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COMPLETE WORKS
Most Rev. John Hughes, D.D,
ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK.
COMPKISING HIS
SERMONS, LETTERS, LECTURES,
SPEECHES, ETC.
CmfttUg CffmgiUtr from t\t \itf>\ ^mmi,
AND EDITED BY
LAWRENCE KEHOE.
VOL. I.
NEW YORK:
LAWRENCE KEHOE, 7 BEEKMATT STREET;
LONDON; RICHARDSON & SON, 26 PATERNOSTER ROW;
9 CAPEL STREET, DUBLIN ; AND DERBY.
SAN FRANCISCO : MICHAEL FLOOD.
1866.
^cornell\
UNIVERSflYf
^LIBRARV^
Entered according to Act of CongreES, In the year 1864,
BY LAWRENCE KEHOE,
In the Olorli'e Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of
New Tork.
I^P
EDWARD O. JENKINS,
6TEBE0TYPSK A PB^NTRB,
No. 20 North William Street
PREFACE.
Having heard many persons, admirers of the late Archbishop
Hughes, express a wish that his public lectures, letters and
speeches might be collected and published iu book form, the com-
piler of this volume has, after some deliberation, undertaken the
task, which, he trusts, will prove acceptable to the Catholic com-
munity in general. The following pages are the first installment,
and vill be immediately followed by another volume of about the
same size, wMch will complete the work. The biographical sketch
merely touches upon the principal events in His Grace's career, but
is the most complete one yet published. The speeclies of His Grace
on the School Question — a question which first brought him prom-
inently before the New York public — will, no doubt, be read with
pleasure as well as profit by thousands who have heard of these great
efforts of Dr. Hughes, but who have had no chance heretofore of
reading them. His speeches before the Board of Aldermen, as well
as his great Three Days' Speech in Carroll Hall on this ques-
tion, will be found in this volume in full. Other important docu-
ments are also given entire. The concluding volume will also
contain important writings of Archbishop Hughes, which should be
read by every Catholic in the land.
The Editor,
New York, September, 1864.
CONTENTS TO VOLUME I.
PAGE
Biographical Sketch of Aeohbishop Hdgees 7
Funeral Ce'rebionies 15
Names op Bishops and Priests Present IG
Oration op Kt. Rev. John McCloskiet, D. B 17
Resolutions op the Tr0stees op St. Patrick's Cathedral — The Courts — Com-
mon Council, State Legislature, etc., on the Death op Archbishop
Hughes 22
Letters prom the President of the United States, Seoretaet Seward and
Governor Seymour 24
Month's Mind Ceremonies 25
Sermon of Et. Rev. John Loughlin, D. D 26
WRITINGS OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Sermon on Catholic Emancipation, Preached in 1829 ■. 29
THE SCHOOL QUESTION—
Speech in St. Patrick's School-Room, July 20th, 18i0 41
" Basement op St. James' Church, July 27th, 1840 48
Address op the Catholics to their Fellow-Citizens of the City and State
of New York— Speech of Archbishop Hughes 50
Speech in Basement of St. James' Church, August 24th, 1840 66
Letter to "Evening Post" in Answer to an "Irish Catholic." 79
Speech in Basement op St. James' Church, Sept. 7th, 1840 81
" " , " " " 21st, 1840 96
Petition op the Catholics of New York to the Board op Aldermen for a
Portion op the Common School Fund 102
Speech in Basement of St. James' Church, Oct. 5th, 1840 107
" " " " "19th, 1840 114
" BEFORE City Council— First Day 125
" " " —Second Day 143
Great Speech in Carroll Hall— First Day ; 183
" " —Second Day 197
" «' —Third Day 211
Review of Me. Ketchum's Rejoinder 227
Speech in Washington Hall, Feb. 11th, 1841 242
in Carroll Hall, March 30th, 1841 246
" April 20th, 1841 254
IN Washington Hall, June 1st, 1841 262
IN Caeeo'll Hall, Oct. 25th, 1841 270
" Oct. 29th, 1841 275
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
Address to Bishop Hdghes. ^®*
Bishop Hughes' Reply to Addbess 289
Lettee on State op Ireland 297
Lectdre — '' Life and Times of Pins VII." 299
CiKCDLAR Letter to the Clbbgt, 1842 21*
Pastoral Letter in 1842, on Administration of the Sacraments, Secret So-
cieties, Church Property, etc 31^
Apology for Pastoral Letter, in Reply to the Strictures of Four Editors
of Political Newspapers 327
Apology Continued— First Letter to David Hale 335
" " —Second " " 3*3
" " —Third " " 348
Lecture — " Influence of Christianity on Civilization." '. 351
Lecture — " Influence op Christianity on Social Servitude." 371
Meeting ot tee New York Church Debt Association — Speech of Bishop
Hughes, May 3d, 184il 386
Speech of Bishop Hughes, May 10th, 1841 396
" May S6th, 18.41 399
Letter to Bishop Hughes, with his Reply 402
Introduction to Mr. Livingston's Book on V Imputation." 406
Lecture — " The Mixture of Civil and Ecclesiastical Power in the Middle
Aces." 417
State op the Diocese of New York in 1841 437
Extracts from Journal of a Voyage across the Atlantic 443
Letters on the Moral Causes which produced the Evil Spirit of the Times —
First Letter — To Mayor Harper 460
Second " —To Col. Stoijp 463
Third " — " 486
' Fourth " — " .•; 493
Alleged Burning of Bibles in Clinton County, N. Y 501
The Jubilee of 1842 505
Sermon on the Jubilee 606
The Latest Invention 510
Lecture— "The Importance of a Christian Basis for the Science op Political
Economy" 513
Eulogy on Bishop Fenwick 534
Lecture — Antecedent Causes of the Irish Famine in 1847 544
Sermon before both Houses of Congress 558
" KiRWAN." .^ 673
Letters on the Importance op being in Communion with Christ's One, Holt,
Catholic and Apostolic Church, Addressed to a Private Reasoner —
First Letter 577
Second " 583
Third " 59O
Fourth " 595
Fifth >' 002
Sixth " 609
Seventh " gjg
Eighth " ; 622
Ninth " 628
" Kihwan" [Jnmasked 636
Appendix 665
LIFE
MOST REVEREND JOHN HUGHES, D. D.
" Lives of great men oft remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footsteps on the sands of time."
^* He was a man ; take him for all in all.
We flhall not look upon his like again." •
Ireland, prolific land of genius, has given to Europe some of the most
profound divines, greatest generals, and ablest statesmen. England,
France, Spain, Austria, all have had the benefit of Irish talent and Irish
worth. But it is America that has received the great influx of Irishmen, —
men of exalted, as well as of humble birth, and she received them with
open arms and generous heart, for which generosity they have paid her
back, in the pulpit, the council-chamber, and the battle-field, an hundred-
fold. It is only in America that Irish genius and talent have had a " fair
field and no favor^" and, consequently, have taken the lead in almost every
department of life. Am9ng those who came to this country in the early
part of the present century, from that misgoverned "Isle of the Ocean,"
was the father of Archbishop Hughes. He settled in Chambersburg, Pa.,
where his only surviving son, Mr. Michael Hughes, now resides, and where
the ashes of the beloved parents of our late Archbishop repose.
The Most Reverend John H>ughes, D. D., was born in the town of Ologher,
County Tyrone, Ireland, towards the close of the year 1798. He was the
son of a respectable farmer of small means, and emigrated to America in
1817 on account of the disabilities to which his religion was subjected in
his native country. His father had preceded him to this country a short
time, and had purchased a small farm, and tfiken up his abode near
Chambersburg, Pa. On young Hughes' arrival in this country, his father
placed him with a florist to learn the art of gardening ; but having little
taste for such pursuits, and feeling within himself a call to till and cultivate
the " Gai'den of the Lord," he devoted his spare time to study, and as soon
as his engagement expired, entered the Theological Seminary at Mount St.
Mai-y's, Emmettsburg, Md., where he remained for seven years, being
employed almost from the first as a teacher. He was ordained Priest in
the year 1836, in Philadelphia, and was appointed to the pastoral charge
a)
8 LIFE OF AECHBISHOP HU-QHES.
of St. Joseph's Church of that city. Here his sermons attracted general
attention, and were attended by the ilite of Philadelphia. In 1829 he
preached a powerful sermon in St. Joseph's Church, in commemoration of
the great event just accomplished in Ireland through the untiring efforts
of Daniel O'Connell — Catholic Emancipation. This sermon was his first
great effort at pulpit eloquence, and it was a grand success. It was
jjublished in pamphlet form, and was inscribed to Daniel O'Connell.
About this time, the Anti-Catholic feeling in the United States was just
commencing. This opposition was due, in great part, to the rapid progress
Catholicity was then making, which opened the eyes of the bigots of the
various sects to the fact, that there was a livin;/ Church in their midst ; as
well as to several filthy Anti-Catholic publications of the " Maria Monk "
class, which had a large circulation throughout the country. Among the
champions who was determined to put down the " Power of Rome " in
this country was the Rev. John Breckenridge, a Presbyterian minister. In
1830, Mr. Breckenridge challenged the Rev. J. Hughes to discuss the
question: "Is the Protestant religion the religion of . Christ ?" The con-
troversy was earned on in the Catholic and Presbyterian newspapers for
several months, and attracted so much attention, that the articles were
subsequently collected in a volume, which had for a time a wide circula-
tion. In 1834, Mr. Breckenridge renewed the challenge, by proposing an
oral discussion on the question : " Is the Roman Catholic religion in any
or in all its principles and doctrines inimical to civil or religious liberty ?"
Bishop Hughes, then only a priest, immediately came forward as the
Catholic champion. The debate was published in book form in 1836, and
has gone through several editions since, all of which have been published
by Catholics, and was regarded with great interest by the public of both
parties. In 1833, he founded and had erected St. John's Church, i)i Phila-
delphia, and was its pastor as long as he remained in that city.
In 1837, Bishop Dubois, of New York, having demanded, on account of
, age and infirmity, some relief from the cares of the Episcopate, the Holy
See appointed Bishop Hughes Coadjutor. He was consecrated Bishop of
Basilopolis, in New York, January 9th, 1838, by Bishop Dubois, assisted
by Bishops Kenrick, of Philadelphia, and Fenwick, of Boston. In about
two weeks after. Bishop Dubois was attacked by paralysis, from which he
never wholly recovered. In the following year the Pope appointed Bishop
Hughes Administrator of the Diocese ; and although he did not succeed to
the full dignity of Bishop until the death of Bishop Dubois, in 1843, the
government of that portion of the Church was thenceforth entirely in his
hands. His first measures were directed to a reform in the tenure of
Church property, which was then vested in lay trustees, a system that had
more than once given rise to scandalous conflicts between the congrega-
tions and the Episcopal authority. All the churclies in the city, at that
time only eight in number; were heavily in debt, and five were bankrupt, and
on th(j point of being sold. Bishop Hughes resolved to consolidate the
Church debts, to remove them from the management of laymen and to
secure the titles in his own name. In this undertaking he was violently
LIFE 01" AECHBISIIOP HUGHES. 9
opposed by theTrusteeg, and was at the time only partially successful, but
the most pressing debts were paid off, and harmony was eventually
restored. His plan, however, succeeded in the end, and before his death
he had the pleasure of seeing the eight churches more than quadrupled,
and all of them nearly -out of debt. Such was Bishop Hughes' foresight,
that all his undertakings proved successful in the end.
In 1839, Bishop Hughes visited Prance, Austria, and Italy, to obtain
pecuniary aid for his diocese. On his return he applied himself with great
energy to the cause of Catholic education. Already, during the previous
year, he had purchased property at Fordham, in Westchester County, for
the purpose of establishing a college. He now completed its organization,
and it was opened in 1841, under the name of St. John's College.
During his absence in Europe, the School Question was discussed in
weekly meetings, held by the Catholics, in the school-house attached to St.
Patrick's Cathedral. The Bishop arrived from Europe early in July, and
attended the weekly meeting in the school-room, on July 30th, at which
he made his first great speech against the Common School System then
existing in this City and State, and in relation to the Common SchoolFund.
This speech will be found in full in another part of this book, and will be
read with interest, as it will give the Catholics of to-day a knowledge of
wliat the Bishop and the Catholics of that day had to contend against.
The dispute on the School Question continued, and brought the Bishop
still more prominently before the public. He made speeches at nearly all
the meetings. These speeches attracted the attention not only of the
Catholics of this country, but even of Europe ; and the expose of the
school-books then in use was extensively copied and commented upon by
the European press. It was charged by Catholics that the Common
Schools were sectarian in character, and they complained of the injustice
of taxing them for the support of schools to which they could not con-
scientiously send their children. An association was formed for obtaining
relief It was demanded either that the taxes should be removed or that
a change should be made in the system of education. The Catholics
petitioned the Common Council in September, 1840, to designate seven
Catholic Schools as " entitled to participate in the Common School Fund,
upon complying with the requirements of the law." This petition will
also be found in its proper place in this volume. Eemonstrances to this
petition wore sent in on behalf of the " Public School Society," by its
presideiit, K. C. Cornell, the pastors of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
other Protestant clergy, and on October 29th and 30th, both parties
appeared before the Common Council, and occupied the two days in
debate. "The Public School Society " was represented by Messrs.. Theo-
dore Sedgwick and Hiram Ketchum as counsel; the Rev. Drs. Bond, Bangs,
and Reese, and a Mr. Peck on behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church ;
Rev. Dr. Knox on the part of the Reformed Dutch Church, and Rev. Dr.
Spring for the Presbyterian Church. Bishop Hughes answered them all in
an elaborate speech of several hours, which can be found in full in this
volume. It is a most interesting document, and will be read with general
10 IJFE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
interest. But notwitUstandiBg the able and lucid speech of the Bishop,
the petition was not granted.
The Catholics, under the lead of their talented Bishop, were determined
not to give the matter up so easily. They presented a petition to the
State Legislature, praying for redress. A bill in their favor passed the
Assembly, but was lost in the Senate, and was finally referred to Hon.
.John C. Spencer, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Common
Schools, who reported unfavorably of the Public School System. This
alarmed the Society, and they sent a remonstrance to the Legislature
against granting the petition of the Catholics. Both parties had a bearing
before a Committee of the Senate; Hiram Ketchum appearing for the
Society, and James W. McKeon and Wright Hawkes for the Catholics.
A bill was framed in conformity with the recommendations of the Secre-
tary of State, and put before the Senate, but after a long debate was finally
postponed. As Mr. Ketchum's speech was published in fall, and exten-
sively circulated, while those on the Catholic side were not even noticed,
Bishop Hughes announced that he would publicly review and refute Mr.
Ketchum's speech im Carroll Hall in this city. The meetings took place
on the evenings of the 16th, 17th, and aisit of June, 1841, and were
attended by immense audiences. These speeches are very long, and on
account of their importance in regard to the School Question, are given
in full in these pages.
In the ensuing election the School Question assumed a striking promi-
nence in the political canvass. The Catholics, by the advice of Bishop
Hughes, held meetings in what was then known as " Carroll Hall," (now
St. Andrew's Church), and nominated an independent ticket. The result
of the election showed them to be so strong that some modifications of the
existing School System were soon effected. Throughout this exciting
controversy Bishop Hughes was the animating spirit of his co-religionists,
and was called on at times to defend himself through the press against the
personal attacks of his opponents. About eight o'clock on electiou might,
April 13th, 1843, a gang of ruffians proceeded stealthily to the residence
of the Bishop, who was absent at the time, as were also the clergymen
belonging to the Presbytery, and proceeded to demolish the windows with
stones, brickbats and clubs. After wreaking their malice to a considerable
extent, they ran away to prevent recognition. At this time Bishop Hughes
was accused of abetting discord by some of the papers, in reply to which
he thus nobly defended himself: " I am not a man of strife nor contention.
My disposition is, I trust, both pacific and benevolent. As a proof of this
I may mention that I have never had a personal altercation with a human
being in my life— that I have never had occasion to call others, or be caUed
myself, before any civil tribunal on earth. It is true that public duty has
not unfrequently forced upon me the necessity of taking my stand in moral
opposition to principles which I deemed injurious and unjust. But even
then, I trust, 1 have made the distinction which Christian feeling suggests
between the cause and the person of the advocate arrayed against me."
What was true if him theuj was true of him to the hour of his death.
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. H
In 1841 he established at Fordham the Theological Seminary of St.
Joseph. In August, 1843, he held the first Diocesan Synod of New York,
and ill a pastoral letter dated September 8, enforced its decrees respecting
Secret Societies and Church property. His " Rules for the Administration
of Churches without Trustees," published in 1845, embody the system
adopted by this Synod. About 1843, the extent of his diocese led him to
ask for a Coadjutor, and the Rev. J. McCIoskey, now Bishop of Albany,
was accordingly appointed, and was consecrated March 10, 1844. During
the Philadelphia riots in 1844, Bishop Hughes addressed a letter to Mayor
Harper, refuting slanders published against him by the Herald, Commercial
Advertiser, and other papers, in which the following passage occurs in
relation to himself: " He landed on these shores friendless, and with but
a few guineas in his purse. He never received the charity of any man ; he
never borrowed of any man without repaying ; he never had more than a
few dollars at a time ; he never had a patron — in the Church or out of it ;
and it is he who has the- honor to address you now as Catholic Bishop of
New York." This letter is also published in our pages, and is well worthy
of attentive perusal, as it shows who were the, enemies of the Bishop in
these trying times. - '
In December, 1845, Bishop Hughes sailed again for Europe, in order to
procure the services of Some of the Jesuits, Brothers of the Christian
Schools, and Sisters of Mercy. He was successful in his efforts, and
returned in the spring of 1846. A few months afterward he was solicited
by President Polk to accept a special mission to Mexico, but declined, on
account of having other more pressing duties to attend to. In 1847, at the
requL'st of both Houses of Congress, he delivered a lecture in the Hall of
Representatives at Washington, on " Christianity the only Source of Moral,
Social, and Politi-cal Regeneration." In this year his diocese was divided
by the erection of the Sees of Albany and Buffalo, Bishop Hughes retaining
all the counties of New York south of the parallel of 42 degrees,, witli a
part of New Jersey. In 1850 New York was raised to the dignity of
an Archiepiscopal See, and Archbishop Hughes went to Rome to
receive the pallium at the hands of the Pope. The first Provincial
Council of New York was held in 1854, and attended by seven suffragans,
the new Bishoprics of Brooklyn and Newark having been created the
preceding year. Soon after its close the Archbishop made another visit to
Rome, in order to be present at the definition of the dogma of the Immacu-
late Conception. On his return he was involved in a controversy with the
Honorable Erastus Brooks, editor of the New York Express and member of
fihe State Senate, growing ouit of the Church Property question. At the
petition of the Trustees of St. Louis' Church, Buffalo, a bill, which subse-
■ quently became a law, bad been introduced into the Legislature designed
to vest the title to all Church property in Trustees. In supporting this
measure, Mr. Brooks stated that Archbishop Hughes owned property in the
city of New York to the amount of about $5,000,000. The Archbishop,
12 LIFE OF AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
who was absent in Europe when Mr. Brooks made this assertion, came
forward as soon as he returned, and denied these assertions of Mr. Brooks
as incorrect, stating that the property was not his, but belonged to the
Church. A long discussion through the newspapers was the result. The
Archbishop subsequently collected the letters on both sides and published
them in a volume, with an introduction reviewing the Trustee system (New
York, 1855). The bill passed at this time, and which gave rise to this
discussion, was repealed by the Legislature of 1863.
On August 15th, 1858, he laid the corner-stone of a new Cathedral,
designed to be one of the grandest church edifices in America. The walls
are several feet high, but alas, he did not live to see the grand idea of his
life fulfilled. Shortly before the war broke out, the work on it was stopped,
to allow the foundations to settle, and has not yet been resumed. At the
ceremony on this occasion, it was computed that 150,000 people were
present. The Archbishop preached the sermon, and gave an outline of
his plan for its erection. He had sent circulars to several prominent
Catholics, stating that he wanted one hundred persons to subscribe one
thousand dollars each. To this circular one hundred and three persons
replied favorably ; two of whom were Protestants. In reference to the
new Cathedral, the following extract from his sermon will not prove unin-
teresting :
" Its special patron, as announced, is the glorious apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick,
— originally selected as patron of the first Cathedral commenced by our Catholic
ancestors in Mott Street fifty-two years ago. Their undertaking was indeed an
example of zeal and enterprise worthy of our imitation. They were very few,
they were very poor, but their ibinds were large as the Cathedral which they pro-
jected, and theirs were the hearts of great men. It might he said of them what
is mentioned in the Scriptures, but in a diflferent sense, that " there were giants in
those days." They laid the foundation of the first Cathedral, at a period when it
is said that the Catholics of New York were not numerous enough to fill the small
Church of St. Peter in Barclay Street — and that ten years after, when the Cathe-
dral was opened, it was necessary, during a short period, to shut up St. Peter's on
alternate Sundays, in order to accustom the people to find their way to the new
church, which was then considered to be far out of the city. Honor to the
memory of our ancestors of that period ! On the parchment containing the names
of the first patrons of the Cathedral now projected, the United States of America,
Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Spain, France, and Germany, are all repre-
sented. The names of members belonging to the CathoUc Church from aU these
countries will slumber side by side on the parchment that engrosses them, and is
to be deposited in the cavity of that corner-stone. Neither can I omit to mention
that two gentlemen, who are not Catholics, have spontaneously contributed each
the amount specified in my circular. Their motive is not their belief at the pres-
ent moment in the Catholic religion. But it is that they are New Yorkers by
birth— that they have traveled in Europe, and that they are ambitious to see at
least one ecclesiastical edifice on Manhattan Island of which their native city will
have occasion to be proud. With regard to this anticipation, I can only say thtit
so far as depends on me, they shall not be disappointed."
But alas for the uncertainty of this life, the great Archbishop did not live'
to see the greatest work of his life accomplished ; but the broad founda-
tions and plans are laid, and will no doubt be completed by his successors.
Since that time the Archbishop has been a constant worker for the
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. IS
progress of the Church, laying the corner-stones of new churches, dedicat-
ing them, administering confirmation, etc., and continually preaching on
all these occasions. All these efforts were gradually undermining his con-
stitution, and the close observer could see that he was fast failing in
general health. On the 1st of July, 1860, he made a most eloquent appeal
in St. Patrick's Cathedral to the Catholics of the diocese for their substan-
tial aid for the Holy Father, who at the time was reduced to dependence
onthe Faithful throughout the world by the loss of a portion of his domin-
ions. The appeal was nobly responded to, the amount raised being over
fifty thousand dollars. The Pope acknowledged the gift, and sent with his
reply a massive silver medal in testimony of his appreciation of the service
rendered him by the Catholics of New York.
In the fall of 1861, after the breaking out of the rebellion. Archbishop
Hughes, at the instigation of the Government, proceeded to Europe to
exert his influence in behalf of the Union cause. He then proceeded to
Eome, where he assisted at the ceremonies of the canonization of the Japa-
nese Martyrs, after which he visited Ireland on his way back to the United
States ; assisted at the laying of the comer-stone of the new Catholic
University in Dublin, and preached the sermon on the occasion, at which
nearly one hundred thousand persons were present. On his return (Septem-
ber 26th, 1862,) he was the recipient of a vote of thanks p,dopted by both
branches of the Common Council of the City of New York, ex-Senator
McMurray making the presentation addresg, which was replied to by his
Grace, and which was published at the time of its occurrence. Shortly,
after his return from Europe he delivered a discourse in St. Patrick's
Cathedral, in which he referred to his mission as follows : " I had no
message to deliver. Another could have carried the message ; but none
was committed to me except the message of peace — eicept the message
of explanation — except the message of correcting erroneous ideas — as
opportunity might afford me the chance of doing, in the same spirit and
to the same end. I have lost no opportunity, according to my discretion,
and that was the 'only qualification connected with my going. I have lost
no opportunity to accomplish these ends, to explain what was misunder-
stood, to inspire, so far as language of mine could have that effect, the
spirit of peace and good-will unto the people of foreign States towards
that one nation to which I exclusively owe allegiaijpe and fidelity. Tho
task was not so easy as some might have anticipated ; its accomplishment
has not been so successful as I could have desired. Nevertheless, I trust
that, directly or indirectly, my going abroad, in great part for the purpose
of aiding the country, has not been altogether without effect."
On the 1st of November, 1863, Archbishop Hughes wrote a letter to Mr.
Seward, Secretary of State, concerning his European mission, in which he
said : " What occurred on the other side I think it would be, at present,
improper for me to make public. T am not certain that any word, or act,
or influence of mine has had the slightest effect in preventing either Eng-
land or France from plunging into the unhappy divisions that have
tlireatened the Union of these once prosperous States. On the other hand,
14 LrBTE OF AECHEISHOP HITGHES.
I may say that no day — no hour even^ — was spent in Europe in Tvhicli I
did not, according to opportunity, labor for peace between Europe and
America. So far that peace has not been disturbed. But let America be
prepared. There is no love for the United States on the other side of the
water. Generally speaking, on the other side of the Atlantic the United
States are ignored, if not despised ; treated in conversation in the same
contemptuous language as we might employ towards the inhabitants of
the Sandwich Islands, or "Washington Territory, or Vancouver's Island,-or
the settlements of the Red River, or the Hudson Bay Territory. . . . From
tlie slight correspondence between us, you can bear me witness that I
pleaded in every direption for the preservation of peace, so long as the
slightest hope of the preservation remained. When all hope of this kind
had passed away, I was for a vigorous prosecution of our war, so that one
side or the other should find itself in the ascendency."
Although he did not place much stress on what he accomplislied in
Europe, yet it is inferred from events which have since occurred, that his
mission was in great part successful. His correspondence with the State
Department, if there were any, has not been published. With the remain-
ing portions of his Grace's life our readers are familiar, as, in fact, most
of them are with his whole life ; for he was a man dear to the hearts of
all the Catholics in the land, and all his sermons, speecTies, letters, etc.,
were read with the greatest avidity, even by those who differed from him
in religion. In July last, when the great riot was in progress. Archbishop
Hughes was requested by the Governor to address the people of his faith,
and thus assist in restoring peace. He consented, and, tbough very weak,
spoke to an immense assemblage from the balcony of his residence, corner
of Madison Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street. Since then his health has
gradually failed. And Sunday, January 3d, 1864, at seven o'clock in the
evening, he resigned his pure spirit into the hands of his Creator. The
last Sacraments of the Ohirch were administered to him by Father Quinn,
of St. Peter's, Barclay Street, some days previous, after which he gradually
sunk, until death relieved him of suffering. The immediate cause of his
death was " Bright's disease of the kidneys." He was at the time of his
death in the sixty-fifth year of his age.
His last moments were marked by the the calmness and resignation of
the true Christian. From eleven o'clock on Saturday night until one
o'clock Sunday afternoon, no great change was noticed in his condition.
He remained in the most feeble state, unable scarcely to lift his hand or
utter a word louder than a whisper, and that with the utmost difficulty.
About one o'clock Sunday afternoon he became unconscious, and lay in
that condition, with slight intervals of reason, until he died. He was
surrounded at the solemn moment by Bishop McCloskey, of Albany;
Bishop Loughlin, of Brooklyn; Rev. Dr. Neligan; Very Rev. Father
Starrs, V. G. ; Rev. Francis McNeirny, Secretary of the Archbishop;
Mother Angela, Superioress of St. Vincent's Hospital, and Mrs. Rodrigues
(both sisters of the Archbishop) ; Drs. James R. Wood and Alonzo Clarke,
and a number of clergymen and friends. About two hours before his
THE OBSEQUIES OF AECHBISHOP ntJGHBS. 15
death he was seized with a series of slight spasms, or gentle twitches.
Father Starrs stood by his bedside reading ptayers for his happy death,
and all priesent joined in the solemn ceremony. Bishop McCloskey recited
the prayers for the departing spirit, and while the voices of all were
repeating, in broken accents, the words of the responses, the soul of the
illustrious Archbishop quitted its earthly tenement. He died without the
slightest evidence of pain, peaceful, calm, and collected. His two sisters
stood by his bedside at the awful moment, and one of them, Moth^
Angela, who has been for many years a Sister of Charity, performed the
melancholy office of closing his eyes. So passed away one of the greatest
men of the age. A good Christian, an eloquent speaker, a profound
scholar, and a patriotic citizen ; one who loved his adopted country
dearly, and whose' greatest earthly ambition, next to his religion, was to
see her the noblest, most powerful, most united, as she is the freest nation
on the globe. In him America has lost a true citizen, and the Church ai
able defender and pious Divine. Bequiescat in Pace.
THE OBSEQUIES.
SEEMON OF BISHOP M'oLOSKET.
So much has been written and said about the obsequies, and ceremonies
attending them, as well as the "lying in state" of his Grace's remains, that
we think it unnecessaiy to recapitulate them here. Suffice it to say that
the body lay in state in the grand aisle of the Cathedral, for two days, and
Was visited daring that time by over 200,000 people of both sexes, many of
whom were Protestants. On Thursday, January 7th, 1864, the last
ceremonies of the Catholic Church were performed over the mortal remains
of the Most Bev. John Hughes, Archbishop of New York. To say that St.
Patridt's Cathedral was crowded, would convey but a faint idea of the
state of the building that day. Thousands could not gain admittance, and
had to stay in the streets adjoining the building.
The scene within the Cathedral was one peculiarly Catholic in all its
magnifleent details — one which out of the Catholic Church could not be
seen on earth. The mournful drapery that hung in heavy folds from the
arched roof to the floor, wrapping aisle, and arch, and column, wall and
doorway, in one sable veil, broken only by the no less funereal white ; the
stately catafalque occupying the centre aisle, and the statue-like figure that
lay beneath its gorgeous canopy, majestic even in death, yet placid and
calm to look upon — ay I
"Calm as a child's repose j'^
the sanctHairy and a great part of the grand aisle crowded with surpliced
priests, amongst whom wci-e eight Bishops of the Church ; the sad, sweet
music, swelling at times into wild sublimity of sound, filling the holy fane
with the strangely-mournful "melody of sweet sounds;" the vast concourse
of men and women that filled every part of the sacred edifice — all conspired
16 THE OBSEQUIES OF AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
to form a scene of imequaled grandeur and solemnity. Let the reader
imagine eight bishops and some two hundred priests, assembled from the
dioceses of Baltimore, Buffalo, Portland, Hartford, Philadelphia, Burlington,
.Boston, Newark, Brooklj'n, Albany, and from all parts of the Diocese of
IsTew York ; Jesuits were there, and Benedictines, Augustinians, Passionists,
Paulists, and Redemptorists, with two Canadian priests, sent by the Bishop
of Montreal to represent the Church of Canada. In addition to these were
present in the body of the Church a large number of the Sisters of Charity
and Sisters of Mercy, with several of the Christian Brothers. So much for
the Clergy and the Religious Orders. Amongst the Societies represented
were those of St. Vincent de Paul and the Xavier Alumni Association.
The City of New York was represented by its Mayor, Comptroller, Sheriff,
and the whole Municipal Council ; the Army by two Majors-General and
three Brigadiers-General, with many other distinguished officers. The
legal profession was represented by several judges and eminent lawyers,
among whom were Judges Daly, White, Sutherland, &c. Richard
O'Gorman, John McKeon, Thurlow Weed and several other distinguished
gentlemen were present at the cei'emonies.
At. ten o'clock precisely the procession of Bishops and Priests entered the
Cathedral, and assembled round the high altar, chanting the " Office for
the Dead." The Bishops were McCloskey, Albany; Wood, Philadelphia;
Timon, Buffalo ; Loughlin, Brooklyn ; Bayley, Newark ; De Goesbriand,
Burlington ; McFarland, Hartford, and Bacon, Portland. There were
nearly two hundred priests in and near the sanctuary ; amongst them were
Very Picv. W. Starrs, V. G., Administrator; Archdeacon McCarron, Rev.
Messrs. Preston, Quin, Cummings, D. D., E. McGuire, McSweney, D. D., P.
McGuire, Curran, McK^na, Brennan, C. O'Callaghan, Trainor, Boyce,
Hriady, P. Farrell, T. Farrell, Nobriga, McClosky, Everett, Mooney, Brady,
Birdsall, D. D. ; Morrogh, D. D. ; Ferrall, Loyzance, S. J. ; Daubresse, S. J. ;
Megnard, S. J. ; Schneider, S. J. ; McAleer, Orsenigo, Larkin, Lafont,
Gambosville, Donnelly, Teixchiera, Dautuer, Rudolphi, McCarty, Egan,
Clowry, McNulty, McMahon, McEvoy, Nicot, Hecker, Hewit, Brophy, Breen,
Madden, Dowling, R. Brennan, Barry, Farelly, Kinsella, Lynch, Neligan,
D. D., of the Diocese of New York.
Turner, V. G. ; McGuire, McDonnell, Keegan, Farrell, McGovem, Fagan,
Malone, Pise, D. D. ; O'Neil, Franscioli, Bohan, McKenna, Gleason, Crowley,
Creightou, McLoughlin, O'Beirne, Mclnroe, Farrelly, McGorrisk, Goetz,
Huber, Freel, of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Very Rev. O'Hara, V. G. ; Rev. A. McConomy, Chancellor ; Sheridan
Mcnahan, Stanton, O. S. A. ; McLoughlin, Crane, O. S. A. ; Dunn, McAnany'
Ivieran, Lane, McGovem, Riordan, Fitzmaurice, Whitty, Hasplin, Davis
of the Diocese of Philadelphia. ' '
Moran, V. G. ; Doane, Secretary ; Kelly, J. McQuade, Hickey, J. Moran
Preitl), Hogan, Corrigan, Cauvain, Hogan, Venuta, De Concillio Brann
Hennesy, Madden, Lasko, Rogers, McKay, McNulty, Smith, Victor, Bi^oio'
Callan, Bowles, Senez, and a number of Passionists of the Diocese' of
Newark.,,
Oonroy, V. G. ; Wadhams, O'Neil, Doran, Noethen, Havermans, Daly
McLoughlin, of the Diocese of Albany. '
THE FU"N^EEAL OEATION. 17
"Williams, V. GoMcElroy, S. J.; Healy, Chancellor of the Diocese of Boston.
Very Rev. W. O'Reilly, Synnott, Oreighton, Hughes, Thomas Walsh, Daly,
O'Brien, Wahh, Smyth, W. J. O'Reilly, Sheridan, De Brucyker, of the Diocese
of Hartford.
Rev. Mr. Pare, Secretary to the Bishop of Montreal. Rev. Canon Valois,
of Montreal. Thomas Foley, Chancellor, and B. McColgan, of the Diocese of
Baltimore. The Irish Chm-cla was respectably and fitly represented on the
mournful occasion by Rev. D. "VV. Cahill, D.D. ; Rev. P. Conway, Headford,-
Tuam, and Rev. Mr. McKenna, of the Diocese of Derry.
The Solemn Mass of Requiem was celebrated by Bishop Timon, assi-sted by
Father Starrs as Assistant Priest ; Rev. Messrs. Quinn and Preston, Deacon
and Subdeacon ; Rev. Messrs. McNeirny and Farrell, Masters of Ceremonies.
.4.fter Mass the Right Rev. Bishop McCloskey ascended the pulpit, and read
for his text 7th and 8th verses. Chapter' IV., of the Second Epistle of St. Paul
to Timothy.
THE FUNERAL ORATION.
I have fought a g;ood fight; I have finished ray course ; I have kept the faith. For
the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will
render to me at that day; and not to me only, but to them also who love His coming.
If ever the words of the living would seem to issue forth or be echoed back
from the lips of the dead, it is now, when these words which I have just uttered
would appear rather as proceeding from the mouth of the illustrious departed
prelate, whose venerated form, still clothed in all the insignia of his high and
sacred ofBce, lies here before us in placid dignity and calm repose. Still we
fancy we hear him saying, " I have fought the good fight ; I have finished my
course ; I have kept the faith. For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown
of justice, which the just Judge, the Lord, shall render to me." When these
words, beloved brethren, were first spoken, or rather written, by the great
Apostle of the Gfentiles, it v/asnot, as we know, in any spirit of boastfulness or
self-praise. They were meant simply as the earnest expression of the con-
sciousness which he felt that the term of his mortal labors was nearly expired;
that hi? work was iinished ; that his course was run ; and tha^ now, steadfast
in the faith, firm in hope, he only awaited the summons of his Divine Master
which should call him to his reward. They were intended, too, to give courage
and strength and consolation to the heart of his friend and fellow-laborer in the
apostleship, Timothy ; and not only to his heart, but to the hearts of all his
well-beloved spiritual children scattered throughout the Church, that when he
should have passed away from earth, when they should look upon his face and
hear his voice no more, they would not yield themselves up to immoderate
transports of grief, or indulge in tears of merely unavailing sorrow, but that
they would rather be sustained and comforted by that grand and glorious faith
which he had preached to them ; by the remembrance of all his services and all
his labors, of how he had toiled and endured, and suffered for them^ and how
by all this and through all this he had won a great reward. So even is it
now. Our heads indeed are bowed down in'sorrow, our hearts are oppressed
and overloaded with a mighty load of grief, because our good and great Arch-
bLshop is no more. He whom we had loved so well, he who was our father and
our benefactor, our kind and trusted friend ; he who was our pride and joy ;
ho who so long stood up among us as a pillar of safety and a tower of strength —
he is no n\pre. That voice of eloquence, those inspiring harangues, thoso
lessons of wisdom, those paternal counsels, those earnest and ceaseless exhor-
tations -wli^h so often deUghted our ears, instructed our mSids, filled with
transports of joy our hearts— all this we shall hear no more. And we would
18 THE OBSEQUIES OP ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
be tempted to yield ourselves up solely to the emotions of our grief were itnot
that we do still think that we hear him say, " Weep not, dear children, grieve
not for me. Be comforted by the thought that I have fought the good f ght ; the
work that was given me to accomplish has been finished. I have run my course ; I
have kept the faith. I now simply await my crown." Our loss, indeed, beloved
brethren, is great. How great, how deeply and sincerely felt, has been made
manifest by all that has been presented to our eyes since the moment his spirit
took its flight from this lower world, by all those manifestations of love and
gratitude and highest feeling which a devoted people have been paying by
. hundreds and thousands, day after day, in pressing forward to show their last
tribute of respect even to his cold remains, and to look upon his face once more
for the last time. And it is not our loss alone, not the loss of a single congre-
gation or a single diocese, but it is a loss of the whole Church, a loss felt by
every Catholic heart throughout the land. For we do not doubt, we cannot
doubt, that when the electric spark carried with its lightning speed tidings of
his death throughout the length and breadth of the country, it thrilled every
heart, especially every Catholic heart, with a pang of agony. And it filled all
breasts, even those who were not of the same church or faith, with sentiments
of deep and sincere regret. His fame and his name, and his services, too, were
of the whole country ; and, I may say, of the whole world. He stood forward
pre-eminently as the great Prelate of the Church in this country, as its able
and heroic champion, as the defender of its faith, as the advocate of its rights, as
the ever-vigilant guardian of its honor. He was not only a great prelate, but
he was a great man ; one who has left his mark upon the age in which he lived,
one who has made an impression upon every Catholic mind in this country
which time can never efface. Of such a life and such a character, and such a
history, beloved brethren, it would not be possible for me to speak in any
adequate or becoming manner at this solemn and mournful moment. I cannot
disguise from myself, I cannot disguise froai you, that I would at any time,
and least of all a time like this, be wholly unequal to the task. But on a
future and more fitting opportunity, on what is called the "Month's Mind,"
due justice, we cannot doubt, will be given to that character and to that life,
and to those heroic deeds and mighty services, by one more fit and more com-
petent for the task. I am here simply to mingle my sympathies with yours,
merely to unite with you in paying to our Archbishop upon this day the tribute
not only of our sincere admiration and deepest veneration and respect, tut also,
and still more, the tribute of our heartfelt gratitude and love. It was, beloved
brethren— as many of you may remember — it was on this day, the next after
the solemn feast of the Epiphany, just twenty-six years ago, that that same
form that is here before us, motionless, cold in death, stood up in the sanc-
tuary and before the altar of this Cathedral, nearly, almost precisely, upon the
very spot where those remains now are— for this Cathedral was not as spacious
then as now — stood up in all the fullness of health and vigor, in all the freshness
and maturity of great intellectual as well as physical strength and power, and
then knelt before the venerable Bishop Dubois to become a consecrated Bishop
on that day. The holy unctions were poured upon his head, the hands of
bishops v^ere imposed, solemn prayers of the Church were recited, the mitre
was placed upon his brow, the ring upon his finger, the crozier within his
hand, and he rose up to take his place from henceforth and to the end among
the Bishops of the Catholic Church. I well remember that grand and imposmg
scene, contrasting so mournfully with that which is now before me. I remember
Ihow all eyes were fij^pd, how all eyes were strained to get a glimpse of their
aiewly consecrated Bishop ; and as they saw that dignified and manly coun-
tenance, as they beheld those features beaming with the light* of inte'lect,
Ijearing already upon them the impress of that force of character which
jieculiarly marked him throughout his hfe, that firmness of resolution that
THE FUNERAL OEATION. 19
unalterable and unbending will, and yet blending at the same time that great
benignity and suavity of expression — when they marked the quiet composure
and self-possession of every look and every gesture of his whole gait and
demeanor — all hearts were drawn and warmed towards him. Every pulse
within that vast assembly, both of* clergy and of laity, was quickened with a
higher sense of courage and of hope. Every breast was filled with joy, and,
as it were, with a new and younger might. Great expectations, indeed, had
already been formed. We had heard of him before. We had heard of him as
the pastor of St. John's Church of Philadelphia — of his great eloquence as a
preacher — of his powerful arguments in discussion, in controversy, in debate ;
and we all looked forward with joy and longing expectation to the career upon
which he was just now entering. Those hopes were not disappointed ; those
expectations were even more than fully realized. It was with the greatest
reluctance that the then young bishop had consented to accept the dignily that
had been offered to him. There was a trying and delicate task before him.
His humility and his modesty shrank from it, and it was only in obedience to
the call of his superiors and the voice of the Church that he bowed in sub-
mission to please the holy will of God. But once having put his hand to the
plough, he never looked back. From that hour and from that moment all the
great energy of his mind, heart, soul, and of his whole being, was devoted to
the great' work which was before him. He was wUling to spend and to be
spent for Christ. He thought never of himself, he thought only of the Church
of which he wlis the consecrated prelate, of the religion and the interests
of religion which had been intrusted to his keeping. Never did he fail or
falter in fldeUty to his trust. We all know how soon the work, if it may
be so called, of regeneration commenced.
The good and venerable Bishop Dubois, bowed down by years, was too
glad to yield the government of such a vast diocese into younger and
stronger hands. Soon we felt, and all felt, that the reins of administration
were held by a masterly, and a firm, and at the same time, a prudent and
a skillful grasp. Immediately we saw the evidence everywhere around us
of the power of his mind, and the wisdom of his judgment, and the disin-
terestedness and single-heartedness of his zeal. I will not attempt to enter
into any details. For, as I have said before, this is not the time nor the
occasion. It is enough for us to remember, because it is within the memory
of all, what the Diocese of New York, the Catholic Church within the
State of New York, or I may say of this country, was when he commenced
his career as Bishop of this great See, and what it was when he laid down
his honors at the foot of his Divine Master, to bid us his last farewell.
There are five dioceses now where there was then but one; clergymen
count by hundreds where they were before numbered by tens ; churches,
institutions of charity, of religion, of learning, springing up on every side;
the whole character of the Catholic people raised and elevated till it seemed
that, from the eminence on which he stood himself, he raised up all his
people towards him. Great works had been commenced and finished by
him. Noble works had been commenced, but not given to him to com-
plete. One of the last acts of his life, as you remember, was the laying of
the foundation-stone of his noble -Cathedral. He did not expect, he did
not promise himself the joy and pleasure of living to see its full completion.
But he intended that he should begin it, that he should lay its broad
foundation-stone — that he would leave to a devoted clergy and to a loving
and generous people to carry it on, to raise it up and stand it there as the
ever-living and undying monument to his memory and to his name. It was
not to be expected that the life of such a great laborer would be carried to
very many years. He sank under the weight of his cares and his too great
toil. He had oyertaxed, many a time and oft, both his physical and his men-
20 THE OBSEQUIES OF AJtCHBISHOP HUGHES.
tal powers ; and strong and vigorous as they were, in the end they had to
succumb. He was in feeble health for the last four or five years of his hie.
Yet his mind was strong, and clear, and vigorous as ever. Still heknew
his strength was failing, that the term of his mortal career was drawing to
an end. When the announcement was made to him that his disea,se had
reached its crisis, and there was no longer hope of life, he received it with
the same calm courage and composure as he would the announcement of
any ordinary intelligence. Immediately he prepaTed himself. -The confes-
sor was sent for. He made his confession with all the humility of a child.
He received and was fortified by the last Sacraments of his Church. Then
he awaited calmly and peaceably the summons of his Lord. He spent his
last day simply in communing with his heart and 'his God. He uttered
but fiysr words. He gave a loving look of recognition to his friends who
came and stood by his bedside. He spoke by his looks, not by his lips.
After an illness not very long, after a brief struggle, he returned his great
and noble spirit to his God. He died full of years and full of honors,
leaving behind him a record which no prelate of the Church in this
country has ever left before, or will ever leave again. For it can be said
without any invidiousness that he stood out prominently and pre-eminently,
as we have already said, as the great prolate of the American Church. He
stood forth as its representative, as its advocate, and its defender; and a,!l
recognized his superior power and his great ability. In looking back now
upon that life through the softened and gentle lustre which death has
ahready thrown around it, it seems to rise up — its character appears to rise
up in even colossal sublimity and grandeur. All former prejudices are
forgotten, all animosities laid aside, all differences and collisions, either of
ciews or feelings and opinions, all melt and fall away in that august, and
imposing, and venerable presence. We think only of the great prelate and
the great man, of his mighty deeds, of his unequaled services to the Church ;
we think only of the rare endowments of his mind and heart, and how fully
and unreservedly they were devoted to the cause of his Divine Master. If
I may be permitted to say it, there was one trait that distinguished our
great Archbishop most particularly. It was his singular force, and clear-
ness, and vigor of intellect, his strength of will and his firmness of resolution.
He was a stranger to fear. His heart was full of undaunted courage. In
the presence of difliculties and dangers, his energies only seemed to be
roused to greater strength and higher exertion. He never quailed before
the presence of any difficulty, or any danger, or any trial ; not that he
trusted wholly and solely on himself. He trusted in his cause, and he
trusted in that God to whose service he had pledged himself and devoted
his entire being. With these rare endowments of mind were combined
also the gentler and more captivating qualities of the heart. He was to us
all the kindest of fathers ; he was to us the most faithful of friends His
heart was full of tenderness for the poor, and for the oppressed, and for the
afflicted. It was full, too, of gentle warmth and sunshine; and if there
appeared at times an occasional tinge of severity belonging to his character
It w;as not the natural temper of the man. The genuine impulses and
feelings of his heart were all impulses of kindness and of pity He knew
no selfishness. He despised everything that was mean and little He
could never stoop to any low trickery or artifice in his dealings with men.
He was unselfish and disinterested in everything that he undertook for
the cause of the people m every service he rendered either to relitrion or to
his country. _ And we have this to say in conclusion, that if ever Ihere was
a man who, m the whole history and character of his life, impressed unon
us the sense and the conviction that he had been raised up by God was,
chosen as His instrument to do an appointed w frk, and was streno-thcned
TUB FTJXERAL ORATION. 21
by His grace and supported by His -wisdom for the accomplishment of the
■work for which he had been chosen and appointed, that man was Arch-
bishop Hughes. He was, from the beginning until the end, clearly and
plainly an instrument in the hands of God. Such he felt himself; as such
ho lived ; as such he died. For us, beloved brethren, there remains now
only the last debt of affection and filial duty, which is to jn-ay for the
eternal repose of his soul. "We do not claim for him, we do not claim for
any man, no matter how exalted in the Church, exemption from human
frailty and human infirmity. lie parted from this world, as we have said,
tranquil, and prepared by all the Sacraments of the Church, by a life of
sincere and unostentatious piety, by a heart truly devoted to his God. But
still, if through human frailty there should yet remain some stain upon that
great soul to be expiated and washed away before it Will be so pure and
undefiled as to be worthy to enter the presence of God, oh, let us give to
_ Jiira, with all our earnest faith, all our heartfelt suffrages and prayers. For
our faith teaches, a;nd it is our beautiful and consoling belief, that though
parted in the body, our spirits are still united, and that we may still love
him, may still pray for him, aye, even perhaps be able to aid him by our
poor, but humble and earnest prayer. You, my brother prelates of the
Church of God, will especially pray for him; we who have toiled and
labored by his side — we who knew him well, who were so often assisted by
his counsels and aided by his wisdom, let us pi-ay for him. And you
faithful and venerable pastors and clergy of the Archdiocese, upon many
of whom' he has laid his venerable hands, to whom you have so long looked
to as }'our comfort and your pride, do you pray for him. And you holy
virgins of the Church, spouses of Jesus Christ, dp you pray for him. And
you little ones, fatherless and motherless, orphans in the Church, he was
your loving parent and generous benefactor ; pray for him. Catholics,
one and all, rich and poor, high. and low, of every rank and every condition,,
you o\YC him a debt of gratitude you never can repay; at least, oh pray
for him. JRequlem mtermim' dana eis Domine. Mb luxperpetua luceit eis.
Eternal rest give to him, oh Lord, and let perjaetual light shine on him. In
a moment more you will bid adieu to what stMl remain's of him'iiere. In a
moment' more,. with his mitre on his head, clothed in'the insignia of his
high office, he will go, as it were, in solemn procession, bidding you all a
last adieu — go to take his place with the prelates who went before him, and
who, beneath the vaults of this venerable Cathedral, now sleep the sleep of
peace. He will go, and the chants and prayers of the Church will surround
him ; and as the tones of that solemn' dirge and of those touching prayers
resound beneath these vaults, we still will fancy we hear in sad, responsive
tones, commingling with them, and lingering still behind after them : " I
have fought agood. fight ; I have run my course ; I have kept the faith ; I
now go to receive my crown."
Immediately after the discourse had been delivered the solemn ceremony
of the Absolution' commenced. This was performed with all the impres-
sive and sacred formalities the ceremony allows : .The Bishops making a
circuit around the catafalque, three times, sprinkling. Holy Wati3r., After
these ceremonies were gone tlirough with, the undertakers then aijproaehed
the catafalque, and placed all the floral wreaths and roses in the, coffin.
Six clergymen then placed the coflin on their shouldeijs, and,, while the
clergymen and choir chanted a solemn dirge, the remains were conveyed
in mournful procession through the Church, while the entire congregation
stood garing earnestly, for the last time, at the !face of the Archbishop,
which appeared distinctly above the head of the coffin, calm and peaceful
in the eternal sleep of death. The scene was such as has never been wit-
nessed in this city before. There was a sadness and a quiet solemnity in
22 OBSEQUIES OF AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
it that struck the vast congregation with sorrow and awe. The feelings
of all were strung to the highest pitch, and many a sob and subdued groan
was heard in the midst of the solemn stillness. The procession moved
out of the Cathedral to the vault in which repose the remains of Bishop
Dubois, Bishop Connolly, and others of the clergy. After depositing the
body in its appropriate place, the procession re-entered the Church, the
low, solemn tones of the De profundis swelling up through the aisles as it
passed along. The remains of the deceased Archbishop, however, will
not rest permaijently in their present place. It is intended to have a
magnificent tomb for them erected in the new Cathedral, as soon as it is
finished,
ACTION OF ST. PATEICK'S TRUSTEES, THE COURTS, AND THE
COMMON COUNCIL.
A special meeting of the Board was held on the evening of the 4th
Jan. —present, Messrs. John Kelly, O'Connor, O'Donnell, H. Kelly, McKin-
ley, Lynch, Hegan, Dolin, and Carolin. On motion, Mr. John Kelly was
called to the chair, and Mr. Carolin acted as Secretary. The Chairman
stated that the meeting had been called for the purpose of taking action
in reference to the demise of the late Most Reverend Archbishop Hughes.
Thereupon, on motion, the following gentlemen were appointed to draw up
resolutions expressive of the feelings of the Board, and publish the same
in such newspapers as they may select. Thereupon Messrs. O'Connor and
Carolin were appointed, and to which committee the chairman was added.
It was then resolved that the Board form themselves into a Committee of
Arrangements for the funeral services on Thursday, 7th inst., and that such
Committee meet in the session-room of the Board on Thursday, 7th inst.,
at eight o'clock A. m. The following resolutions were also adopted :
Resolved, That in the death of the Most Reverend John Hughes, D. D., Arch-
bishop of New York, the Roman CathoUc Church laments the loss of an illustrious
prelate whose life was devoted to the prorrlulgation of her faith, and who by his
labors extended the benign influence of her sacred teachings.
Resolved, That with grateful recognition we record that, from the first moment
of his entering upon the duties of his mission in this diocese until the close of his
mortal career, he upheld with unfaltering arm the banner of our Holy Church,
and zealously promoted the welfare of those confided to his spiritual care and
protection. The numerous churches, colleges, seminaries of learning and religious
orders, the hospitals and asylums called into existence by his industry and energ)',
will long remain to perpetuate the memory of his religious zeal and the benevo-
lence of his heart.
Resolved, That we recall with pride the many instances in which our Most Rev-
erend Archbishop stood forth as the champion of our Faith, of Education, and
Civil and Religious Liberty ; illustrating in his career the virtues of a Pastor
attached to his flock, and the ability of a Statesman anxious for the welfare of his
country. Exiled in early life from the land of his birth, he deeply sympathized
with her sufferings and sorrow, his- eloquent and powerful voice being always
raised in advocacy of her rights and in indignation against her wrongs. The
land of his adoption will cherish the remembrance of his disinterested patriotism
and devotion to her interests and honor.
Resolved, That while we bow in humility to the dispensation of the Almighty,
who has taken from us our beloved Pastor, we are consoled by the reflectioiTthat
the memory of his virtues and labors will endure to animate those who are to
follow him in the great mission of charity, education, and of our holy reho-ion,
with his spirit of devotion to the advancement of our holy faith and the greater
glory of God.
All the Courts in session in this city adjourned from Wednesday to
EESOLUTICWfS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL, ETC. 25
Friday, out of respect to the illustrious dead, and in order tliat the
judges, lawyers, and jurors might be able to attend the funeral ceremonies
ou Thursday. Nearly all our city judges, in-espective of religion, attended
the obsequies.
On Monday, January 4th, Mayor Gunther sent in a message to both
Boards of the City Government announcing the death of Archbishop
Hughes, and recommending that some action be taken in refererice to it.
Accordingly, a special meeting of the Aldermen and Councilmen took
place on Wednesday evening, January 6th, when preamble and resolutions
were read and adopted. It was resolved in the Board of Councilmen :
That, la the death of John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, the country is
called upon to mourn the loss of a conservative, influential, and enlightened
citizen ; the City of New York has lost a great and good man ; the numerous,
intelligent and conservative denomination of Christians, of which he was the
acknowledged head in this country, has lost a wise, zealous, and indefatigable
advocate and guide ; the religion of which he was such a conscientious and devoted
disciple has lost an able and powerful advocate, and in its peculiar tenfets, a
learned expounder.
Resolved, That out of respect for the memory of the deceased prelate, and in
consideration of his private virtues and public services, this Common Council
will attend his funeral in a body, with their staffs of office draped in- mourning ;
that they will cause the flags to be displayed at half mast on the City HaU and
the other public buildings on the day set apart for the funeral rites and cere-
monies ; that the public buildings and offices of the Corporation be closed on
that day, and that a special committee of five members from each Board be
appointed to make the necessary arrangements for attending the obsequies.
It was also resolved that a copy of the preamble and resolutions be
engrossed and sent to Father Starrs. The same resolutions were adopted
by the Board of Aldermen, and both 'attended the obsequies, accompanied
by the Mayor.
The Trustees of the Cathedral extended invitations to the following to
attend the obsequies : Sisters of Eeligious Orders ; President of the
United States and Cabinet ; Governor of the State of New York and
Staff; Foreign Dignitaries ; Members of Judiciary ; Members of the Legis-
lature ; Mayor and Officers of the Common Council ; B^rd of Supervis-
ors ; Board of Education ; Heads of Departments ; Commissioners of
Charities and Correction ; Dissenting Clergymen ; Gen. John A. Dix and
Staff; Gen. Hays and Staff; Army and Navy Officers ; Delegations from
Medical Societies ; Representatives of Jesuit Colleges ; Delegation of St
Vincent de Paul Society ; Distinguished Catholics ; Distinguished Protest-
ants ; Strangers from abroad. All of the above persons invited did not
attend. Neither the President and Cabinet, nor the Governor of New
York were present, as we presume their respective duties would not allow
them to be absent. The State Legislature at Albany passed resolutions in
regard to the death of the Archbishop. They were passed, after some
opposition from a Mr. Douglass, of Oneida County, by a vote of 76 yeas
to 14 nays. The Commissioners of " Public Charities and Correction"
held a meeting on the 7th Jan., and passed resolutions of regret at the
death of the iirchbishop, and voted to attend the obsequies in a body.
24 OBSEQUIES OF AECHBISHOP HUGipES.
LETTERS FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SEC-
RETARY SEWARD, AND GOVERNOR SEYMOUR ON THE DEATH
OF THE ARCHBISHOP.
The following letters were received in reply to invitations to attend the
obsequies of the Most Reverend Archbishup :
From the President.
Dbpaiitmbnt of State, "Washington, Jan. 13, 1864.
Venj jRei\ Wm. Starrs, Administrator of the Diocese of Neio TorJc :
Very Rev. and Dear Sir,— The President of the United States has
put into my hands the invitation to the funeral obsequies of the late Arch-
bishop Hughes, with which he was favored by you. While it was impossi-
ble for him to accept the invitation, he has, nevertheless, earnestly desired
to find some practicable mode of manifesting the , sorrow with which he
received intelligence of that distinguished Prelate^s demise, and his sym-
pathy with his countrymen, and with the religious communion over which
the deceased presided, in their great bereavement. I have, therefore, on
his behalf, to request that you will make known in such manner as will
seem to you most appropriate, that having formed the Archbishop's
acquaintance in the earliest days of our country's present troubles, his
counsel and advice were gladly sought and continually received by the
' Grovernment on those jooints which his position enabled him better than
others to consider. At a conjuncture of deep interest to the country, the
Archbishop, associated with others, went abroad and did the nation a
service there, with all the loyalty, iidelity, and practical wisdom which,
'oa so many other occasions, illustrated his great ability for administration.
Humbly hoping that the loss which the Church and the State have sus-
tained in the removal of the Head of your Arch diocese, may, through the
blessing of God, be repaired, so that what has been an unspeakable gain
to him may not be a permanent cause of sorrow to them,
I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. H. SEWARD.
From Hon. Wm. H. Seward.
Washington, January 5, 1864.
V^ry Uev. Wm. Starrs, Administrator of the Diocese of New Yorh :
Vert Rev. and Dear Sir, — I regret more deeply than I can eSpress
that indispensable official engagements will deprive me of the sad satisfac-
tion of attending the obsequies of the late Archbishop, and thus manifest-
ing, in the only way now possible, the respect and affection which I have..
BO long cherished towards him as a faithful friend, a pious prelate, a loyal,
patriot, a great and a good man.
W. H. SEWARD. . '
From lion. Horatio Seymour, Oovei~nor of the State of New Yorh:
State av New York, Executive Department, )
Albany, January 5, 1864. j
Very Rev. Wm. Starrs, Administrator of the Diocese of New York :
Vert Rav. Dear Sift, — I have received youi- announcement of the
death of Archbishop Hughes, and your invitation to attend his funeraL
MONTH S MIJSTD CEEElIOSriKS. 25
As the Legislatni-G has just assembled, it is not possible for mo to leave
the capital of the State. I regret it is not in my power to show, by my
attend.inoe, my respeet for the memory of one of the marked men of the
couutiy. The life-long labors of the late Archbishop ^vill tell for a long
period upon the literature, the religion, and the charitable institutions of
our land. In a few years the City of New York will be adorned Ijy a
magniticent cathedral, the broad foundations of which were hu.: under his
supervision and care. So, too, in the, future, will the interests of learning,
religion, and charity be built upon the ground-works which he has estab-
lished <luring his long and laborious life. The progress of events and the,
growth of our counti-y will not throw his memory into the shade, but they
will develop and make more clear his influence upon the social condition
of our people.
Truly yours, HORATIO SEYMOUR.
THE MONTH'S MIND OF ARCHBISHOP HUG-HES-
SERMON OF BISHOP LOUGHLIN.
The solemn service api^ointed by the Catholic Church for the thirtieth
day after burial, was on Wednesday, the 3d February, celebrated with
the customary form and ceremony in St. Patrick's Cathedral, for the happy
repose of Archbishop Hughes. The Church was tastefully and artistically,
draped in mourning, as on the occasion of the Obsequies, and the stately
catafalque which graced the grand aisle, in front of the altar, was a model
of fine taste. On its centre was placed a large funeral urn surmounted by a
cross, and over it was suspended the purple stole of the illustrious prelate,
whose mitre stood on the foot of the mimic coffin, sad mementoes of the
dead. . There was one Archbishop and six Bishops present.
The following are the names of the Bishops and Clergy present, so far as
could be ascertained at the tima: Most Rev. Archbishop Connolly, of
Halifax, N. S. ; Bishops Bayley, Newark ; Timon, Buffalo ; Loughlin,
Brooklyn ; Domenec, Pittsburg ; Farrell, Hamilton, 0. "W. ; Lynch, To-
ronto, 0. W. ; Very Rev. Father Starrs, V. Gr., Administrator; Rev. Messrs.
Baker, Farrell, Deshon, W. Quinn, Brennan, McNulty, Moylan, S. J. ; Loy-
zance, S. J., Driscol, S. J., "Walworth, O'Oallahan, Conron, Mooney, Breen,
Clowrey, McKenna, McLoughlin, Barry, Boyce, Nelligan, D. D., McMa-
hon,. Lynch, McClellan, McEvoy, Orsenigo, Heoker, McCarthy, Briady,
Treanor, Mignault, S. J., Ourran, Brennan, Madden, Shanahan, Brophy,
Daly, Reardon, Quinn, John Everet, Feral, Woo(jls, MuUedy, S. J., Farrelly,
O'Toole, Hassan, Lewis, Nobriga, Slevin, of the Diocese of New York.
There were also a large number of Priests from the neighboring Dioceses ;
among the rest, Very Rev. Father Morau, V. Q-., Newark, N. J. ; Rev. Messrs.
Doane, Newark, N. 3. \ Madden, Madison, N. J. ; McKay, Orange, N. J. ;
Cauvin, Hoboken, N. J. ; McNulty, Patersou, N. J. ; Very Rev. Mr. Turner,
V. G-. ; Rev. Messrs. McDonnell, McKenna, Cassidy, Gleeson, Keegan, Brady,
McGorrisk, Maguire, Bohan, Pise, D. D, Freel, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Phelan
Astoria, N. Y. ;, Parley, Jamaica, N. Y. ; O'Brien, New Haven, Ct. ;> Hart, New
Haven, Ct., Smyth, Norwalk, Ct. ; DaBruyker, Williamantic, Ct. ; Walsh, Mer-
iden, Ct. ; Kelly, Norwich, Ct.; Lambe, Providence, R. I. ; Cooney, Providence,
R. L; Very Rev. J. J. Williams, V. G., Boston, Mass. ; Rev. Messrs. Linden,
Boston, Mass. ; McPhillips, Taunton, Mass. ; Very Rev. M. O'Brien, V. G.,
Rochester, N. Y. ; Rev. Messrs.- Mulholland, Lookport, N. Y. ; MoMulIin,
Suspension Bridge, N. Y. ; McGowan, Seneca Falls, N. Y. ; Magliana,
26 SEEMON OP BISHOP LOTJGHLIN.
O. S. r., Alleghany, N. Y. ; Bevnolds, Pittsburg, Pa. ; J. McCloskey, V. P.,
Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmilsburg, and Conway, P. P., Headford, Ireland.
Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Connolly, assisted by Very Rev. Mr.
Starrs, V. Q., Administrator ^ro tern, of the Archdiocese; Rev. Mr. Ma^ire
of the Cathedral officiated as Deacon, and Rev. Dr. McSweeney as Sub-
deacon; Rev. F. McNeirny, Master of Ceremonies, assisted by Rev. Mr. Far-
rell. The sermon, preached by the Bishop of Brooklyn, is given in full
below.
SERMON OP BISHOP LOUaHLIN.
Remember yoar Prelates who have spoken the Word of God to you ; whose faith
follow, considering the end of their conversation. — Heb. xiii. 7.
ToTj are assembled here to-day, beloved brethren, to perform a work
■which your religion recommends — ^that is, to unite in offering the Holy
Sacrifice and fervent prayer for the repose of the soul of our lamented Arch-
bishop. You have come, also, it may be, to hear from this place a suitable
exposition of his merits which may be calculated to increase your, respect,
admiration and affection for him, or to. confirm in you those sentiments
which have long since had a place in your hearts. Already most eloquent
words of eulogy have been addressed to you. Already you have heard on
all sides, in public and in private, the learned and the unlearned; the states-
man, the lawyer, the orator, the poet, those who are not members of the
.Catholic Church as well as those who are, proclaim, with one accord, their
respect for the illustrious departed. On the day of his obsequies you saw
within this sacred edifice, municipal and various other representations and
delegations, manifesting their grief for the loss sustained by the whole
community, while sympathetic thousands were without, unable to enter.
The grahd solemnity of that day, and the manifestation of feeling which
the sad event by which it was marked called forth, will not be soon for-
gotten. The remembrance of him whose remains were then before us wiK
be ever cherished with respect and affection by all of us. After all this,
can any word I might utter extend the boundaries of his fame, or increase
your respect and affection for him ? I apprehend that any effort on my
part to accomplish this might be fruitless, on account of my inability, in
the limited time allowed me for the purpose, and because, even if I had
more time, I could not satisfy the demands of justice, or reach the point to
which your expectations have been raised. Nevertheless, as it is written
by the Apostle : " Remember your Prelates who have spoken the Word of
God to you ; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation,"
I venture to speak of one of whom it is difficult to speak, and yet concern-
ing whom it is difficult to be silent.
When we speak of the Most Rev. Dr. Hughes, late Archbishop of New York,
we speak of a man whom Divine Providence gifted with very great, I might
say with extraordinary powers of mind, who entertained in his heart sentiments
which do honor to humanity, who ha,d a robust, vigorous physical constitution,
all of which would have secured for him distinguished pre-eminence in any posi-
tion or sphere in life. If we speak of him as a citizen, I may say that if ever the
lamp of patriotism burned in the heart of man, it did in his. He loved, and
fondly, too, the land of his nativity, but the intolerance there experienced
caused him to leave it for " another country in which he believed the rights
and privileges of citizens rendered all men equal." The duties which devolved
upon him, and which he understood so well, in this land of his adoption, he
discharged with unswerving fidelity. To use his own language, " His feelings,
his habits, his thoughts, had been so much identified with all that is American,
month's mind ceremonies. 27
that he had almost forgotten he was a foreigner." So long ahiiost as the lamp
of life itself continued to burn, so did that also of the love of his country, and
for it he was willing to make every sacrifice compatible with his high and holy
vocation. He was entitled to our respect and admiration as a man and as a
citizen, and we are called upon to revere his memory now that he is no more.
But it is in the sacred and exalted character of priest and prelate, of anointed
of the LoVd, of sentinel on the watchtower of Israel, of a chief of the hosts
of the Lord, of shepherd in the fold of Christ, that we consider and commemo-
rate him more especially. It was after his ordination that "his public life
commenced. Not much time had elapsed after that event before he felt him-
self called upon to repel the unjust assaults which bigotry made upon his religion,
and which were calculated to bring odium on it and its professors. Conscious
of the possession of the powers with which he had been gifted, and at the same
time of the truth and holiness of the cause he undertook to defend, he advanced
as a giant, and with his wonderful intellectual ability he detected and exposed
before the light of revelation and reason the errors and the bad logic of his
opponents, and having scattered the mists of ignorance and prejudice, the truth
shone forth in all its majesty and splendor, and the Catholic public gloried in
him as their great champion. As a priejit he acquired great distinction, which,
as it was acquired in the defence of his religion, redounded also to the honor
of that religion and of the Catholic name.
In the cqurse of a few years he was called upon to assume^reater re-
sponsibilities. A heavier burden was to be borne by him. He did not
seek those responsibilities, nor did he ask to have that burden placed upon
his shoulders. Yet when he was satisfied that it was the will of his Divine
Master that he should bear it, he bowed in submission— he did not refuse
the labor. Confiding in Him whose name is Almighty, from the eminence
to which he had been raised, at the proper time, he surveyed the fold for
which he became responsible, made himself acquainted with its condition,
to give direction, apply the corrective, or supply the want, according to
the circumstances. He entered on the discharge of the duties of the Epis-
copate with astonishing ability and vigor. With eye fixed on the great
palladium of civil and religious liberty — on the great principle of the
American government, he asserts for the young and for the old of his flock
the rights of conscience. Again, you find him engaged in removing with
masterly dexterity the difficulties that obstructed the free observance of
ecclesiastical discipline. At another time you see him contemplating
the threatening storm of human passion, and soon, as if it awaited his
order, it is hushed into inoffensive stillness. Should his adversary present
himself behind a mask, he tears it off, and with a rod dipped in a mix-
ture of logic, ridicule and sarcasm, he sends him back in confusion to the
obscurity frolm which he had emerged.
Besides the great tact and prudence for which he was remarkable, he
was most courageous — ^never daunted, never dismayed — a stranger to fear.
He was sometimes apparently severe, yet always kind, benevolent, charita-
ble. In all his labors, and trials, and contests, he found consolation in the
truth and holiness of his religion, in the rectitude of his conduct ; "in all
my public life in New York," he writes, "I have done no action, uttered
no sentiment unworthy of a Christian Bishop and an American citizen ;"
and also in the reciprocation of fidelity on the part of his devoted flock, so
that he might declare, as he did on the occasion of the laying of the corner-
stone of the new Cathedral, to the assembled thousands, '' You have never
failed me," reminding us of what the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians :
" We are your glory, as you also are ours." What shall I say of the emo-
tions of pleasure experienced by the members of this congregation as he
was seen proceeding from the sacristy or episcopal throne towards this
28 SERMON OTT BISHOP LOUGHLIJT. ,
plaop ? We know how deliglited all were to hear the soimii of that voice, '
now, alas ! hushed to stillness, to see that penetrating eye, now closed and
motionless, and that gesture, which seemed to accord so naturally in vigor
and force with the language employed in elucidating doi;trine or enforcing
the observance of moral precept. But why should I continue to repeat
what you have so often heard, or endeavor to bring before your view what
you have so often seen ? Is it only for the purpose of exciting anew your
respect and your affection for him ? While I would say it is not unlawful,
but rather 'commendable, to entertain these sentiments, should wo not also
• — yea, and above all — give glory to Him who was pleased to enrich him so
munificicntly ? Who bestowed on him the gift of faith ? Who gave him
fortitude and constancy in defence of that faith J Who gave him prudence
and other endowments for which he was so distinguished ? To the Giver
of every good and perfect gift, to the Father of Lights, to the Author and
Knisher of our faith, to the Spirit of Wisdom and Fortitude, be honor
and glory, benediction and praise, for all the graces and blessings be-
stowed upon him, and, through his ministry, upon ua. Thus, beloved
brethren, does the remembrance of the great Prelate excite to praise and
glorify God, nor should it be without its salutary influence" on our lives.
This was the thought of the Apostle when he admonished the Hebrews to
follow the faith of their Prelates.
That God has made a revelation to man, we doubt not. It is also certain
that it was his will that Ho should- be glorified by man's knowledge and ac-
ceptance of it. Man should then have a knowledge of it, should accept it, and
be guided by it. Has God made any arrangement for this purpose ? Most
certainly. It is made known to us by the Evangehst as a fact which existed.
Like all the stupendous works of the Almighty, it seem.s very simple. The
Son of God chose Apostles, and to them He gave the words which He had
received from his Father, and He commissioned them to preach them to the
nations of the earth, pledging his word to them that He would be with them
till the end of the world ; declaring to them, moreover, that whoever heard them
heard Him ! The work was to be continued, and the order in which it was to
be carried on was arranged by infinite wisdom. It was by a living, teaching
ministry. So the Apostles understood it. We read that St Paul directed
Timothy to commend to faithful men who shall be tit to teach others also the
things which he had heard from him. He left Titus at Crete for the express
purpose of ordaining others, that thus the ministry might be perpetuated. He
tells the Hebrews to obey their prelates and to be subject to them, for they
watch as being to render an account of their souls, and again, to follow their
faith. ■ The doctrines of faith which they believed and taught were believed
and taught by the prelates of the Church everywhere, in every nation. Thus,
in our 'day, we may repeat the words of the Apostle, " Remember your Pre-
lates who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow." It is the
faith of the Catholic Church, the faith once delivered to the saints..
This is the faith he held and preached. Follow that fdth and you will
be good members of society, good citizens, good Christians. To it you
must apply for a correctknowledge of all your duties. By means of it you
can see things as God wills you should see them here below, and viewing
the world and all ^that is in it by the aid of its light, you will see its vanity ;
you will learn that true happiness is not found apart from God; jou learn
the value of an immortal soul. The'great truths of Faith lie preached to
you with great force and dignity, yet with great simplicity, for to the
learned and to the unlearned, to the wise and to the unwise, he was a
debtor. He never forgot that he was 'a' bishop, and that he should take
heed to himself and to the whole flock over which he had been placed.
Great were his gifts, great his dignity, 'great his responsibility. He is ad-
ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 29
monislied lliat the time when he shall liavo to rciidiir an aoftount of his
(tewardship is at hand, and that he should prepare for it. He received the
Last Sacraments. Though it was, and ever -wi:! be, a great consolation to
me and to you to know that he had the full and unimpared use of his senses
and faculties at the time, it was difficult to look at that great man, that
champion, that hero preparing to leave the scone of liis labors, to leave those
who were devoted to him. After he had received the Holy Viaticum and
the Sacrament of Extreme Unction he did not fail to express, in his own
peculiar, emphatic manner, the happiness he experienced. Soon after my
consecration I had occasion to go to his room. Having attended to the
business for which I went, and about to leave, he looked at me and said :
" Never forget that you are a Bishop."
Now, in conclusion, I transmit to you, beloved brethren, the affectionate
admonition,; never forget that you are Catholics. Great is the digaity of
the Archbishop, of the Bishop, of the Priest, of the Catholic, and great the
responsibility. One of the great thoughts of his great mind, the desire of
his heart, was that his children in the Faith should not be socially or
ci\'illy inferior to their fellow-citizens. He knew to what dignity their
Faith raised them. He knew they had a correct understanding of their
moral obligations, and the duty of defending their civil and their social
rights he never lost sight of. Remember your Prelate who has spoken to
you the Word of God. Follow the great principles of his and your Faith.
Kemembcr him in your prayers, so that, so far as may depend on you, you
may be instrumental in hastening, if it has not already taken place, his ad-
mission into the joy of his Lord. Take heed to yourselves. Forget not
your dignity, so tlaat when your day come, or rather, if you will, v/hen the
night cometh when you can no longer labor, you may pass from this world
of darkness to the enjoyment of Him who dwelleth in the midst of light
inaccessible.
After the Sermon was concluded, the last solemn rites were performed by
Archbishop Connolly, attended by Deacon and Sub-Deacon. Thus ended
the last public ceremony over the remains of a great and good man. lie-
gziiescat in pace.
BISHOP HUGHES' GREAT SERMON
ON THE EMANCIPATION OF IRISH CATHOLICS.
Freachedin the Church of St. Augusiine, Philadelphia, May Zisi, 1829.
[This splendid sermon was delivered by the late Archbishop Hughes in the Church
of St. Auffustine, in Philadelphia, on the 31st of May, 1829, at a solemn religious
'thanksgiving to Almighty God for the emancipation of the Catholics of Great Britain
and Ireland, just achieved through the efforts of Daniel O'Cnnnell. The sermon was
dedicated to him by the author, who was then only pastor of St. Joseph's Church.]
LordThouhast blessedThy land : Thou hast^turned away the captivity of Jacob . . .
.... Mercy and truth have met each other : Justice and peace have kissed.
Truth is sprung out of the earth ; and Justice hath looked down from heaven.
I'SALJi lixxiv.
It is the privilege of man, my brethren, to sympathize in sorrows that
•are not his own, as well as to rejoice in the blessings which make others
happy, although they leave his own individual condition unchanged and un-
so AECHBISHOP HUGHES
affected. This peculiarly amiable feature has heen impressed on the human
character by the plasmatic hand of Almighty God, in order, no doubt, to
remind his children, by the community of their affections, that however
separated by distance of time or place, they are brethren notwithstanamg,
deriving their origin from a common Father, by whom they were createa tor
a common end. Otherwise, the sympathetic susceptibilities of the human
breast arc inexplicable. There is no other fountain to which we can trace
the current of those tears that bedew the pages of romance, when they pic-
ture scenes of distress which might heme existed, but which in fact never rfjrf
exist, save in the author's imagination and the reader's sensibility. If, then,
by the spontaneous dictate of generous nature, we can enter thus largely
into the fortunes and feelings of one individual, how could we stand unmoved
when we behold entire millions of our species and our brethren, after whole
ages of sorrow, rejoicing at length in the commencement of a new-born des-
tiny, and we trust a happier era. It was but yesterday you saw the hope
of those millions suspended from the balance of apparent chance, and with
what anxious solicitude did you watch every tremulous motion of the beam,
whilst prejudice, folly and oppression were in one scale, opposed to reason,
truth and justice in the other, and it yet remained doubtful which side would
ultimately preponderate ! The issue has been auspicious : it has been made
known to you and to the world ; and other millions, perfectly disinterested,
except by the sympathies of universal nature, are now rejoicing in the event.
Such is the benevolence of philanthropy.
But this feeling, for the very reason that it is capable of being extended,
so as to embrace all mankind of every nation and of every clime, becomes
stronger and wanner, like the concentrated rays of the sun, when circum-
stances confine it within a narrower sphere. "What was philanthropy, when
it knew no limits, requires to be expressed by some more ardent epithet,
when it is circumscribed by the boundaries of our native country; and lan-
guage presents a word of magic influence — patriotism. Here, then, is an-
other principle of hunian nature that operates on so many bosoms in the vast
assembly that surround me. There is in the heart of every man that which
interestshim — the land of his nativity ; and until that heart cease to beat, no
distance either of time or of place will be able to extinguish the sensation.
He may banish himself from his country — his judgment may give a. decided
preference to any other — his reason may be at variance with his feelings —
absence and age, and reason and philosophy may all conspire against the
rebel affection of his bosom, but they will not be able to subdue it. The
home of his fathers and of his childhood, the scenes and companions of his
youth, even the first landscape, however rude, with which his eyes became
familiar — all these things break in upon his recollection in after years, with,
that luxury of mingled feelings which I cannot describe, because they will
not submit to be analyzed, but which every exile from his country has expe-
rienced, and can therefore appreciate. These reminiscences are sometimea
sad, and yet they charm ; they are melancholy, and still they enchant : but
whatever they are, they maintain their dominion over the human breast;
and I know one heart that would not like to be insensible to their influence,
even if the tiling were possible.
Still, my'brethren, they are common to the Jew, the Christian, and the
idolater : to the barbarian as well as to the Greek. They belong to the
order of mere human virtues, until they are touched and hallowed, like the
prophet's lips, by some living embers from the altar of religion. Thus,
whilst we indulge in feelings of philanthropy and of patriotism, as men, we
must not be unmindful that as believers we should refer to God the glory
of the achievement in which we all rejoice. It is for this especial reason
that we give expression to our gratitude in the act of solemn and religious
ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 31
thanksgiving, and thus proclaim our belief, that the aflfaira cf this -world are
not abandoned to capricious chance — that they are not decided by sullen
destiny — but that God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, without seem-
ing to dispute the wisdom of earthly calculations, disposes them neverthe-
less in measure and in weight according to a superior judgment, too sub-
lime for the scrutiny of man, too infinite for the comprehension of created
intellect.
So that, on whatsoever side we consider the subject, we find the occasion
to be in accordance with the best and most universal feelings of our nature,
and with the soundest dictates of reason and of religion. It 'is an occasion
of legitimate rejoicing in every sense : when the apple of discord, which has
been the cause of jo much oppression, injustice, and bloodshed in unhappy
Ireland, has been^at length destroyed, and the axe effectually applied to
the root of the tree that produced it — when those inequalities in the law
which divided the nation so long, operating as an almost irresistible incen- ,
tive to the worst passions of authority, are blotted out for ever — when we
may hope that hereafter heaven will be no more outraged by the crimes of
the oppressor; that humanity will no longer be compelled to weep over
the sufferings of the oppressed — when, in fine, the kindred virtues have
been permitted to meet again, and justice and peace have actually kissed,
in token of eternal amity.
Such are the prominent features of the moral triumph which I have this
day to proclaim ; and my only regret is, that it has not found a herald more
competent to do it justice. When I refiect, however, that the intense feel-
ings which surround me are interested chiefly in the matter of my subject,
I have reason to hope they will extend a generous portion of indulgence to
the manner in which it may be presented. This is the cheeiing considera-
tion that sustains me, when I would otlierwise shrink from the arduous un-
dertaking.
The histories of nations, my brethren, like those of individuals, chequered
as both are by the vicissitudes to which human things are liable, become a
book of moral and religious instruction when studied by the light of Chris-
tian faith: — whilst at the same time they furnish that experience from
which philosophy may extract lessons of practical wisdom ; and statesmen
derive political knowledge, which they can employ for the promotion or
the destruction of social happiness. And there is not in the world, per-
haps, a country whose history may be studied under a greater variety of
aspects, than that which is this day the subject of our consideration. The
native historians of Ireland trace the lineal descent of her people to a very
distinguished origin, and to an extremely remote period of antiquity.
They claim also, even for their pagan ancestors, a degree of superiority in
national policy, and in mental improvement, which distinguished them in
those ages, as much as the Mexicans were distinguished from the other na-
tions of this hemisphere at the epoch of the Spanish invasion. _ Other
writers, however, have drawn their pen across the labor of the Irish anti-
quarians, and without taking the pains to investigate, have pronounced the
whole narrative to be fabulous. If national credulity has arrogated too
much, it is equally certain that those, who with national antipathies have-
undertaken to correct the mistake, have been uncandid in refusing to con-
cede what ought not to be withheld. For, without losing ourselves in the
mists of antiquity, but beginning at the period when history cast away the
drapery of fiction, with which, it is said, that poetry had invested her, we
are met by tangible and uncontroverted facts, which prove that however
the pretensions to superiority may have been over-rated, they are not alto-
gether without foundation.
Jt was in the fifth century of our era, when Christianity, having already
32 AHCHBISHOP HUGHES
scattered lier divine illuminations extensively over tlie globe, landed at
length on the shores of Ireland, and planted the cross— at once the ep blem
of her doctrine and the evidence of her conquest — where the Roman eagle
never floated. In what situation did she find the country ? Governed by
a monarch who enjoyed the sceptre by the right of election, whose privileges
were limited and defined ; with representative parliamentary assemblies,
for the enactment of wise laws ; with three distinct classes in the state, for
the purposes of subordination ; with the use of letters and literary estab-
lishments ; with institutions separate and apart for the study of music,
heraldry, philosophy, and medicine ! This is not the government of a rude
and savage people— these are not the institutions of barbarism, nor the oc-
cupation of barbarians. Greece would not have been ashamed of them at
any time ; and in that age history sought for them in vain beyond the
limits of the Roman empire, except in Ireland,
But, again, contrast the admission which Christianity obtained in Ireland,
with the cruel opposition which it had to encounter in other countries. .
When we examine the means and manner of the world's conversion, we find
that the first heralds of eternal life' were generally immolated in almost
every country to the expiring deities of the place ; and that the tree of di-
vine faith was not permitted to. take root in the soil, until after it had been
profusely watered with the blood of those who were commissioned to plant
it. In Ireland, however, this was not the case. The great apostle of that
nation was permitted to labor undisturbed in his holy vocation for thirty
successive years, exhibiting the meek religion of Jesus Christ in the power
of its own celestial evidence — and because the mind of Ireland was im-
proved and competent to judge it by its evidence, only thirty years was
]iecessary to establish that doctrine, which, a proscription and a persecution
of nearly three hundred have not been able to root out. Greece and Italy
were enlightened, and yet they endeavored to extinguish the infant religion
of Christ in its cradle ; but their hearts were depraved, and the Holy Scrip-
tures assign the universal motive of men, who "love darkness rather than
light." The reasoning of Ireland, compared with theirs, was the reasoning
of Gamaliel in the council of the Pharisees. But in all the other countries
civilization followed with tardy pace in the footsteps of Christianity ; in
Ireland it had gone before. Elsewhere, the seed of the divine word was
sown on the rocks of barbarism, or scattered amid the brambles of blind,
bigoted, and cruel superstition — here, the rock had been broken, the bram-
bles had been cleared away, and Christianity found a soil prepared ; for I
defy historical scepticism, with all its easy ingenuity, to account for its un-
obstructed promulgation, and rapid increase on any other human hypo-
thesis.
But, together with the religion of Jesus Christ, Ireland received the
knowledge of Roman letters, and of classic literature ; and during the sub-
sequent ages, when the torch of science was on the verge of extinction
throughout the rest of Europe, it blazed forth in Ireland with a lustre which
attracted at once the notice and the admiration of the world. And here
permit me to instance how hereditary and indeliable are the leading traits
of national character. One of the laws previous to its conversion, proves
that hospitality was universally exercised in that country from time im-
memorial. This law did not enjoin merely that the stranger should be
taken in when perchauGO he knocked at the door, nor that having entered
the domestic circles, his rights should be regarded as sacred. In other
countries this would have been much ; in Ireland it was unnecessary, and
would have been nothing. It was enjoined by public authority, and under
the forfeiture of penalty, that no family should remove from its established
residence without having given previous notice of its intention, lest t te
ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 33
■wearied traveler, unapprised of the change, should call at the deserted
mansion, when overtaken by the darkness of the night, and there would be
no one to receive him to the rites of hospitality.
But it was during the period subsequent to the introduction of Christi-
anity, when the, charities of heaven's religion were engrafted on the stock
of native generosity, that Ireland established her prescriptive and undisput-
ed claim to that national character, which, through all the variety of her
fortunes, she has not to this day forfeited. Her seminaries of learning,
with which she abounded, were crowded with the votaries of knowledge
from every other country, and we are authorized on the testimony of a co-
temporaneous and a foreign writer, the venerable Bede, to state that those
strangers were received, supported, and educated in the Irish seminaries,
without remuneration or reward. Abroad, in Germany, Italy, and Prance,
she was regarded through the medium of her pious ecclesiastics, who went
forth as missionaries, imparting to others the blessings of religion which
heaven had bestowed upon themselves ; and judging of the country which
produced them, by their numbers, their talent, their zeal, but, above all,
by the unblemished sanctity of their lives, Ireland was designated in the
writings of the time, as the " Island of Saints." This is an appellation of
which she has the more reason to be proud, because it was not engraved
on her escutcheon by the hand of national vanity, but was the unsolicited
offering, the spontaneous tribute of foreign admiration. This is a title to
which, even in the depth of her political degradation, Ireland looked back
with a fond, but saddened recollection, because like the statues of illus-
trious ancestors in pagan Rome, it reminded her of the eminence from
which she had fallen, and the degeneracy of the children compared with
the sanctity of their fathers. But this is not the time to enlarge on that
topic.
Neither was it by their virtues alone that the preachers of Christianity
from Ireland, during those ages, were distinguished in other lands. One
of the writers of her history, Plowden, himself an Englishman, tells us that
Alfred the Great, and England's greatest king, was educated in Ireland ;
from whence, also, he brought professors for that Oxford college which the
other day voted against the religion of its founder, and the country of its
first professors. The biographer and historian of Charlemagne says, that
the colleges of Paris and Pavia were founded by Irish ecclesiastics. The
younger Scaliger informs us that in the time of Charlemagne, and for tivo
hundred years after, '■'fere omnei doeti" almost all the learned men of
France were from Ireland. And Doctor Johnson observes, Ireland is known
to have been once the seat of piety and of learning, and concludes by the
expression of his regret that more is not ascertained of the revolutions of
a people "so ancient," says he, "and once so illustrious." Such is the hon-
orable testimony borne to the character of that country before it became
the prey of ruthless invasion. But why should I have selected Johnson
and Scaliger from a host of others ? Because, my brethren, their evidence
bids defiance to the common objections made by historical skepticism, viz ;
ignorance, or partiality to the religion or the soil. Both were pre-eminent
in the science of lellea-lettres ; both were giants in literature; both were
foreigners ; both were Protestants.
Such was the march of Ireland on the literary theatre of the world be-
fore she was inundated by the waters of oppression, from which she is now
emerging. She went forth scattering the treasures of her own enlightened
intellect, pouring her own oil into the famished lamp of science wherever
she, passed; or lighting it up where it had never blazed before. Such was
her zeal to plant with generous hand in the bosom of other nations, those
seeds of religion and of virtue which had produced the harvest of holinesa
3
34 AECHBISHOP HUGHES
in her own. To tlie man who is skilled in the philosophy of believing only
what he sees or comprehends, the idea may appear superstitious ; but to me
it seems in accordance with the certain- though mysterious economy of Di-
vine Providence, that during this illustrious period of her pre-emjncnce m
science and in piety, Ireland was guided by some spirit of prophetic benev-
olence from above, that gave her a glimpse of her own future situntion,
and breathed in her soul the counsel of eternal wisdom, to labor while the
day is, for the night cometh when no man can work. When we behold her
standing on her own hospitable beach, to receive the stranger youth of eve-
ry land with a mother's affection, does it not appear that with a mother's
prospective solicitude, her vision pierced the gloom of futurity, and rested
on that melancholy period when her own persecuted sons should bo obliged
to visit other climes in pursuit of science, because at home they would not
be allowed to drink the waters of knowledge, except at fountains which
they deemed polluted ? As if she foresaw the time when her own expatri-
ated children would be borne afar, and afar on the surge of every ocean,
and cast on every distant shore, there, like uprooted plants, to perish, un-
less fostered by the hand of foreign kindness. There was a time when the
other nations of Europe were indebted to Ireland ; but her fortunes chang-
ed ; the means of conferring benefits were taken from her, and in her turn
she became their debtor. To the seminaries of Germany and Italy, and still
more to those of France, she owes, under the same providence of Almighty
God, the unbroken succession of her priesthood during the persecution of
her religion ; and now that it has ceased, she acknowledges the obligation
in the fullness of her own gratitude, as if she had deserved nothing at their
hands.
' About the close of the seventh century, Egfred, King of Northumberland,
made a transitory incursion into the country, and this was the first foreign
enemy, coming in the attitude of hostility, that ever trod on Irish soil.
After his expulsion, Ireland enjoyed her usual tranquillity hntil about the
beginning of the ninth century, when the Danes and Norwegians aimed at,
and partly succeeded in effecting, what they considered a permanent estab-
lishment in that delightful country. The effort, we are told, cost them a
struggle of thirty yeai-s ; and we know from the history of other nations
which they visited merely as a passing scourge, that theu- hatred of those
studies which gave polish and refinement to social life, was equaled only
by their hatred of Christianity. In Ireland they had time and opportunity
to indulge the double hatred— they had abundant material whereon to
wreak their Gothic vengeance, by destroying monasteries, in which science
and religion dwelt like sisters in the same sanctuary, and against which the
Danes cherished a universal and hereditary spite. They were inhabited by
monks, a class of men who have been so traduced, and calumniated by the
learned ingratitude of modern times, that their very name sounds in the
ear of popular credulity, as synonymous with ignorance and indolence.
They were not ignorant, my brethren ; but that ignorance which is charged
upon them, would be at this day ours, if they had not been learned. One
portion of their time was devoted to prayer and singing the praises of God ;
the residue was employed in transcribing the Holy Scriptures, and books of
antiquity. They were not indolent ; on the contrary we find them in every
country, engaged viith patient industry in building across the middle ages
that br?dge which connects ancient with modern literature, and by which
the wisdom and the folly of other days and of other generations have trav-
eled down to us. They were engaged in saving whatever of learning could
be saved by hujjian exertion from the ravages of those turbid waters that
swept beneath its extensive span. The annals of pagan as well as of Chris-
tian Ireland were deposited in these monasteries, which were pillaged and
ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION.- 35
destroyed by the vandalism of the northern invaders. Then did perish
those national monuments, the absence of which Doctor Johnson, in the
name of enlightened posterity, deplores, because, says he, being the records
of an ancient and once an illustrious people, if they had come down to us,
they would have thrown light on two important but disputable subjects ;
viz : " the origin of nations, and the affinity of languages." They have not
come down to us; and we can judge of ancient Ireland, from Irish docu-
ments, only as we judge of a long ruined edifice, by the quality of the scat-
tered fragments which strew the place around. After the destruction of
her monasteries, however, in the ninth and tenth centuries, the sun of her
literary glory appears to have set ; although the reflection of his departed
splendor, like the mellow light of evening, lingered on her horizon ; and dur-
ing the darkness — the night that followed — hers were some of the bright-
est stars in the firmament of letters.
The Danes werg flnally expelled, just time enough to show that the coim-
try was still unconqucred, and free from every foreign yoke, when the Eng-
lish commenced its invasion about the year 1171. Then it was that Eng-
land's second Henry established in Ireland a power which, under all cir-
cumstances, would perhaps have been a blessing, if it had been conducted
on the principles of distributive justice or of common equity ; but which, as
it was, operated like a canker worm at the root' of the nation's happiness,
blighting every virtue that adorns human nature, and giving occasion to
the exercise of every vice that degrades humanity. But, on the very thresh-
old of this topic, a question arises, and it is asked by what right did he
Invade, and by what title did he claim the territory of an unoffending peo-
ple ? Why, the ostensible right was a written instrument, obtained by
some means or other, almost twenty years before, from Adrian IV., Bishop
of Rome and Pontiff of the Universal Church. In virtue of this, Ireland
was disposed of in the form of a donation, under certain stipulated terms.
The invader knew very -well that the donation was a mockery ; but then it
might serve a purpose. It was carefully concealed until the desired mo-
ment arrived ; then ambition grasped the sword, and artifice thought to
hide its lancet point, in the folds of this flimsy document ; in order that
while the scruples of the nation should be excited, touching the Pope's
authority, its liberties might be assassinated quietly, and with as little waste
of English blood as possible. The Irish people then, as well as now, bowed
to the spiritual authority of the Pope, as the visible head of the Christian
Church ; but then as well as now, they knew that the act of Adrian did not
derive its authority from Him " whose kingdom was not of this world."
The document 'may have surprised and divided the nation; it may have
weakened, though it did not paralyze the arm of resistance ; but the fact is,
that at all times England's best title was the sword. The Irish soon after
protested publicly against the whole proceedings; and forwarded to the
Vatican itself a remonstrance, which is written in a tone of uncompromising
complaint, and which, but for the deeply-wounded spirit of those who
penned it, would be considered reprehensible even at this day ; such is the
bitter independence of its language. This was the most unwarrantable
stretch of assumed prerogative in the annals of what modern writers call
papal usurpation. It was unnepessary, it was unavailing, it was unjust.
Arid having said thus much, I will be permitted to show, by a few remarks,
that this and similar acts have become too much the theme of satirical ani-
madversion and unmerited invective.
Good sense, and sound criticism, and common justice require, that be-
fore we pronounce on the proceedings of former ages, we should examine
them in connection with the times in which they occurred ; the cotempo-
riucous prejudices, the nature of the governments, the manners and gen-
36 AECHBISHOP HUGHES
eral conditionof society -when they happened, should all be thrown into
the scale of judgment ; and they would guide us to a just "s erdict of cen-
sure or of approbation. The direct contrary, however, is the general prac-
tice with writers otherwise eminent and learned. They seize an isolated
fact in the darkness of the dark ages, and drag it forth naked, divested of
all its concomitant circumstances, to be judged, and, as a matter of course,
to be condemned by the superior light of the present day.
If they allowed it, kowever, to return naked as they found it, the world
would not be, as it is, the enlightened dupe of unsuspected prejudice on
a thousand historical and religious topics. But disregarding the_ moral
of the Holy Scripture, they put new cloth on old raiment, and dismiss the
fact, whatever it may be, in its chequered and consequently ridiculous dra-
pery. Thus, for example, when we are told that Popes interfered with the
government of kingdoms, it should not be left untold that kings and na-
tions had first invoked that interference, and besought them in the name
of humanity and religion, to protect the claims of justice, to prevent civil
war, and the shedding of kindred blood. It should not be left untold that
very frequently the brows to whom it belonged were too weak to sustain
the diadem, against the usurpations of some other aspirant, who was
ready to tear it away. Interest, in the form of chivalrous gratitude, not
unfrequently tendered a kingdom at the feet of the Pontiff, and found its
best security in receiving it as a fief of the Holy See, by the common
tenure of the feudal system which prevailed. Thus, the power of the
Popes was as simple in its origin as the power by which a priest, or other
clergyman, settles a dispute between two neighbors, who appeal to him
rather than to the dagger or the magistrate. The influence which they
possessed enabled them to extend the shield of peaceful justice for the
protection of injured and otherwise defenceless innocence. If they became
formidable to kings, it was because kings laid the foundations on which
they built the edifice of power. The state of the world is changed ; that
power has been taken from them, and transferred to others. If it had not,
the Pope at this day could effect, without bloodshed, what English bayo-
nets will be necessary to accomplish in the kingdom of Portugal. 1 re-
joice, for the sake of religion, that it has been removed from the chair of
St. Peter ; because he who occupies that chair is not an angel, but a hu-
man being, and whenever he mingles in human affairs he is liable to
be swayed by human motives. This was possibly the case with Adrian
IV.; he was an Englishman, and, so far as in him lay, he bequeathed Ire-
land, which never was at his disposal, by feudal right or otherwise ; he be-
queathed it, nevertheless, as an appendage to his country's greatness. This
is the fact. And yet there are considerations which might shield him from
the harsh severity with which even Catholic writers have visited his mem-
ory. He is known to have been a man austere and simple in his manners,
and unblemished in the sanctity of his life ; but it was his lot to govern
the Church at a time when the prejudices of temporal power, alluded to
above, were already established by prescription. On the other hand, the
motives which prompted him to the act were evidently good. We can see
by the very tenor of the document, that he was led to suppose" the good of
religion and the promotion of piety were the only objects for which Henry
the Second desired the sovereignty of Ireland. For, my brethren, unre-
strained ambition, whether it operates on the bosoms of kings or of other
men, does not hesitate to put on the appearance of sanctity, to make use of
religion, aye, and of religion's God, as stepping-stones beneath its feet, if
it cannot otherwise ascend the eminence to wliich'it aspires.
You will pardon this apparent digression from my subject. My limits
would not allow me to delineate the anatomy of Irish history ; I could only
ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 3^
V-
exhibit tlie mere skeleton ; and as the concession of Adrian is one of its
most important joints, I felt prompted by a sense of justice to the calumni-
ated dead, to trace its connection to the circumstances of the times in which
it took place.
During the period subsequent to the English invasion, we behold noth-
ing but ruin and desolation, where we have been hitherto admiring the
vision of Ireland's now departed glory. The portion of the country which
was conquered by the first adventurers was denominated the Pale, an ap-
propriate and significant term, pregnant with all the partiality that power
could confer on those who were within its limits, and with all the injus-
tice, tyranny, and oppression which the spirit of lawless conquest could
inflict on those who were without. By virtue of the state secret, the little
wire, whicli was carefully concealed from the vulgar gaze, but which
moved every spring in the machinery of government, the seeds of national
jealousy, of reciprocal hatred and revenge, were sown and fostered ; and
when these passions grew up into a harvest of political disorder, then
those who had moved the wire came forth from behind the curtain, in the
name of loyalty, to reap the profits. They had a right to them. Thus, the
laws produced a kind of refles operation profitable to the governor and his
minions, in proportion as it was ruinous to the people. One deputy after
another appeared to represent the majesty of England ; and with few ex-
ceptions, private interest, avarice, and ambition were the standards which
regulated their administration. They went forth at intervals to extend
the " pale ;" and when they had depopulated a section of the cou'utry,
leaving behind them, not the, conquered inhabitants, but the silence of
death and the solitude of the sepulchre, the news was transmitted to Eng-
land, and reached the monarch's ear in the character of a victory " gained
over the natives."
In the judicial department the case was even worse, if possible. The
laws stood at the portals of judgment, to prevent justice from entering;
and when murder appeared, his sabre reeking with human blood, the first
question of him who sat upon the tribunal was touching the birth-place of
tlie fallen victim, an important question ; for if he was one of the original
jiroprietorsof the soil, which they expressed by calling him a "mere Irish-
man," then the statute declared that it was no felony to kill him. The
whole nation, at different times, petitioned for the protection of the English
laws, but their petitions were as often rejected. This is a sketch of the
policy adopted and pursued by the government in Ireland, from the inva-
sion down to the accession of Queen Elizabeth ; but the nature of the
present occasion would make it criminal in me to torture your feelings by
any further description.
This bad system of government naturally caused Ireland to retrograde
in morals and in virtue, as well as in science and literature. And yet. Sir
John Bavis, an Englishman and a Protestant, tells us there was less crime
there than in England, in the reign of James I., 200 years a^o. He was
then attorney-general, and the first in that capacity who visited all the
parts of Ireland ; his office qualified him to pronounce, and, comparing the
.innals of guilt in both countries, he strikes the balance of morality decidedly
in favor of Ireland. A similar testimony was given, the other day, in the
House of Peers (where it would not have passed uncontradicted, if it had ,
not been susceptible of proof), by ano^ier Protestant nobleman, that at this
moment the proportion of crime is doubly greater in England than in the
unhappy country of whose ignorance and vices so much has been said, even
on this side of the Atlantic. England, and every other country, has its
sijlendid virtues, and I am as ready to proclaim them as I am to admit that
Ireland has her numerous vices. But I mention these facts as a matter of
38 AECHBISHOP HTTGHES
pleasing astonishment, that her vices are not more. When we reflect that
the blessings of justice and mercy, and an impartial government, -which
makes other nations virtuous and happy, have been denied to Ireland for
nearly seven hundred years, we would hardly expect to find a remnant of
virtue left; but to see her surpass them in the test of comparison, this must
appear a phenomenon in the order of morality. For, my brethren, there is
a connection between the cause and the effect in moral as well as physical
nature. If the tempest roll in fury on the smoothest sea, that sea will im-
bibe a portion of the spirit that disturbed it ; it will rise from its slumbers,
it will foam and rage, and woe to the fragile bark that is overtaken by its
indignation. So, if a people are oppressed, if their treaties are violated, if
their generous confidence is abused, and their professions disbelieved, and
their honor doubted, and their sacred rights invaded, and their liberties
trodden under foot — if, in a word, they have lost everything except a paltry
life, which, but for the hope of religion, would not be worth endurance,
then it is not to be wondered at, if such a people sometimes turn on their
oppressors in the spirit of vindictive retribution. This has been the case
more than once in unhappy Ireland. No nation could feel more keenly the
disgrace of her degradation, the injustic^^f her bondage : is it, then, mat-
ter of surprise that the peculiar sensibilities of her heart sometimes rose to
her head, and engendered there that species of political frenzy which broke
out at intervals in fitful, wild, and sometimes infuriated ebullitions of
revenge ?
For the fact is, that Ireland at all times understood the equal rights to
which she was en.titled, ,and the measure of strict impartial justice without
which she would not, she could not, be satisfied. Begin at whatever epoch
you think proper to select, and descend from one step to another of her
history down to the present day, test the feelings of every generation
as you pass, and you will perceive that no duration of time could ever tame
the mind of Ireland to the yoke of unmerited and ignominious servitude.
You might tell the youth, the stripling of the village, or the peasant boy,
around whose tender hands you bound the manacles in punishment of his
birth-place, that they came to him by lineal descent, that his fathers had
worn them for ages, that they were consecrated to his family, hereditary
appendage of the soil ; you might tell him all this, and instead of concili-
ating, you only roused his impatience for the moment when he might
burst the fetters, and remove the malediction. What ! injustice heredi-
tary ? Oh, no. But one thing was hereditary — that magnanimous and
immortal spirit of the nation, which for so many ages has been tortured,
but could not be broken on oppression's wheel. The neck of Ireland might
have been bound at any time, on a level with her feet, in the dust ; but, even
then, her soul, towering in the consciousness of its own original integrity,
stood erect, unsubdued, unbending, and— indomitable. This was the
secret of that turbulence of character which ignorance has ascribed to her,
and recorded against her in the book of calumny. Until recently there
w:is no mirror to reflect ou England and on the world the ima^e of her
feelings, but there were at all times the scattered materials from which
such a mirror might have been fabricated. Those feelings were like ob-
structed waters, breaking out irregularly wherever they found an issue •
when, at length, a superior mind arose to preside over them • then they
flowed m one direction, and, as they advanced, acquired the easy maiestv
as well as the irresistible influence oT a mighty tide, which swept away the
barriers that had hitherto prevented justice and peace from embracine
each other. °
The laws of England, which were refused to the country while their
operation might have been salutary, were extended in the reign of Eliza-
ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 39
beth when they had been new-modeled in accordance with the change o(
relijiOn in the state, and were no longer desirable. Then, for the first
time, they took their march throughout all Ireland, bearing liberty in one
hand and degradation in the other. If they had asked the apple of her eye,
in exchange for the boon of freedom and of justice, Ireland would hare given
it. But much as she loved civil liberty, there was one thing that she loved
infinitely more : it was the faith which she received in olden times. This
she regarded as the boon of heaven : it was hers before she knew England ;
it was at all times the solace of her grief; it was the anchor of her last and
best hope, and neither bribery nor persecution could detach her from it : she is
at all times seen clinging to it with the tenacity of despair: thus leaving an-
other instance to prove that faitli is stronger than death, and that persecution
can make martyi's or hypocrites, and there its power ends. The civil oppres-
sion of Ireland would have terminated the moment she embraced, or pretended
to embrace, the religion which the Parliament had decreed, and were deter-
mined to support. But she saw no reason to believe in its Veracity, and to
profess it would have been hypocrisy ; it would have been acting against her
conscience ; it would have been apostasy from her God ; it would, in fine, have
been that base thing of which Ireland has proved herself incapable. For this
she is entitled to the admiration of the world ; because, for this she sufiered.
The laws continued unequal, and the inevitable result of their operation was to
break the intercourse of charity among men of different religions, arraying the
Catholic against the Protestant, and the Protestant against the Catholic ; and
in spite of their united efforts to exclude it, intruding perpetually to disturb
the harmonies of social and sometimes domestic life.
You may be surprised, my brethren, that I have dwelt so long on the early
portion of Ireland's history, and so briefly on the civil thraldom and religious
persecution which have succeeded each other since the English invasion in the
twelfth century. But why should it be otherwise, when the wisdom of better
times has applied an effectual remedy to the evils of that long-injured country,
and she herself has already forgiven, what it may not be so easy to forget ? It
was but yesterday the Legislature of Great Britain covered over her wounds
with the mantle of justice, and mine shall not be the hand to tear it off so
soon Those wounds already begin to cicatrize ; and they say that darkness
and silence are best calculated to promote convalescence ; and, besides, if I did
exhibit to j'our view a full picture of Ireland's wrongs, pity would rise from
the canvass, and extort the tribute of your tears; whereas the occasion calls for
no tears, except peradventure those of gratulation and of joy.
But my brethren, I would not have you retire from this place unim-
proved by the moral of a subject, which, but for its illustrative connection
with the state of fallen humanity, would be altogether foreign from a
Christian pulpit. Let us not forget, that every one of us has to watch the
first movements of the very. same passions which have produced so many
black clouds in the moral as well as political atmosphere of now-regenerated
Ireland. For, to trace her misfortunes to any national peculiarity in the
English character, would be unsatisfactory and unjust. We all know that
the genuine English character is proverbial for its sterling, almost infalli-
ble, integrity — the more to be admired, because it is unclogged by any out-
ward display. Neither would it be just to trace them to the religion of
England, because Ireland's oppression commenced nearly four hundred
years before that religion existed. Religion is the daughter of God ; her
office is to pluck thorns out of the human breast, not to plant them — to
prepare men for a better world, by raising, not depressing them in the scale
of virtue here. It would be cruel to charge religion with the crimes of
which Ireland has been the victim, not only since the Beformation, but be-
fore, when there was but one religion, and the good of both nations wor-
40 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
sTiipped God around the same altars. Where, then, shall we find the solu-
tion ? Go to the ground where children are at play ; wait till a quarrel
arises, and the spoils are to be divided ; and ascertain how it happens that
the largest portion of the common tojs remains hy right in possession of
the strongest or most artful competitor. Here is the solution. Here is the
infant passion; but do not lose sight of it here; watch it up to manhood,
pursue it across the ocean to the shores of Africa, and there you will detect
it, putting manacles, by the same right, on hands that were free. Observe
its operation on a large scale, and you will behold it, as in unhappy Ire-
land, by tlie same right, grinding down the immortal energies of a chival-
rous nation under the millstone of predominant, and therefore irresponsible
power.
The history of that country is the tragedy of the bad passions, and
every good man rejoices that it has been brought to a close. We rejoice,
because the Catholics have obtained that to which they were at all times en-
titled by the rights of nature and the laws of justice ; we rejoice more, be-
cause in this reason and principle have triumphed over prejudice and folly.
We rejoice for. the sake of England as well as Ireland, for the sake of
Protestants as well as Catholics. We rejoice in the name of all the virtues,
in the name of justice, and of peace, and of humanity, and of religion, and
of God. To Him is the glory and the praise. He has made use of human
means, and great must be the satisfaction of those who have been made
the instruments of a victory, different from other victories, in this, that it
has cost neither blood nor tears. Does not every good heart in this assem-
bly rejoice ? Surely that generous spirit of our happy country, the freest
under the sun, that spirit which lately cheered the captive onward in the
enterprise, is gladdened by its success. Those who look back to Ireland as
the home of their infancy, must feel the influence of a yet stronger sensa-
tion. But what must be the feast which this day presents to the feelings
of those who in times of greater peril, and for the object we commemorate,
risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor — men whose for-
tune it was to have been born in Ireland, with a genius which the Crown
could not purchase, the Parliament could not crush, and who were con-
strained to leave their country, because — they loved their country too
much.
Greece would have immortalized them ; and America, the country of
their choice, does honor them, as they do honor to their various profes-
sions ; their pens have been employed even here in the vindication of their
degraded country and their countrymen. The stigma has been removed ;
and to them this occasion must be a joyful one. Neither is that affection
diminished by the consideration that others bear away the honor of hav-
ing achieved an event, which their exertions contributed so much to accel-
erate. Posterity will do them justice; and their names, some of which I
could, but do not mention, will stand conspicuous on the records of Irish
talent and of Irish patriotism.
But enumeration would be endless as the subject itself. I thank you
sincerely for your kind and patient attention ; I will now descend from this
place to mingle with you in the expression of our common gratitude to
Almighty God, for the termination of those moral evils to which I have
.'lUuded— and with you also, to breathe the prayer of hope, that henceforth
the inhabitants of Ireland, and not of Ireland alone, but of every country on
the globe, may live as brethren, if not in religion, at least in social kind-
ness, in the bond of holy peace, in the practice of virtue, and of piety and
fidelity to our common and blessed God. This is the benediction I would
invoke upon you and on the world. In the name of the Father, and of
^he Son, and of the Holy Ghost. — Amen.
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 41
SPEECHES ON THE SCHOOL QUESTION.
On July 20th, 1840, an important meeting of the Catholics of New Yorl<
Was held in the school-house attached to St. Patrick's Church, at which
the Very Rev. Dr. Power presided ; and in accordance with the wishes of
the Right Reverend and respected Bishop, stated to the meeting the naked
(ruth respecting the origin of the present agitation of their claims as
Catholics to a portion of the School Fund of this State, for the education
of their children. Towards the end of last January, Dr. Power received a
letter from the Rev. Mr. Schneller, of Albany, earnestly urging that he
should come and judge for himself, and see how easy it would be for the
Catholics to obtain a portion of that fund which was set apart by the law
for the education of all the children of the commonwealth, but of the
benefits of which, under its present management, they were unable, as
Catholics, conscientiously to partake. After some deliberation he called a
meeting of the Trustees of all the Catholic churches in the city, and laid
the subject before them. He knew that amongst those trustees were men
of different shades of politics, but he also knew, and he said it in the
fullness and sincerity of his heart, that politics had nothing to do with the
question upon which he convened them ; that it was a question which
appealed to every one of them as Catholics with equal force, whatever
might be their respective political opinions, and he anticipated no dissen-
sion, no wavering, no hesitation amongst them on this all-important ques-
tion, and he was not disappointed. They unanimously resolved to apply
for a portion of that fund to which they had contributed as citizens of
this State, and to which they were undoubtedly entitled, and for that
purpose agreed that he should go to Albany ; and he did go accordingly.
And having gone, he found nothing but honesty of purpose, as he believed,
and he returned to this city thoroughly persuaded that the application
would be successful if it was pressed forward with Catholic unanimity.
And this expectation he doubted not would have been realized but for an
unfortunate article that appeared in the Truth Teller of this city, which
endeavored to convert what was purely a question of Catholic and religious
principle into a political one — slandered their motives, and declared that
with sinister and unworthy objects in view, they were preparing to press
upon the Corporation of the city a demand which, if complied with,
would be a palpat)le violation of the constitution of the State, and the
equality of rights which it secured to all citizens. This opening of the
warfare against the Catholics proceeding from amongst themselves, gave
color and support to the hostility which they afterwards experienced.
The Eight Rev. Bishop HuGnES then rose to address the meeting, and was
received witli enthusiastic plaudits. When they had subsided, he s.iid, he
42 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
had listened with great attention to the explanations offered by the Very
Reverend gentleman who presided over the meeting, and to those nhich tol-
lowed from Dr. Sweeney; and it afforded him very great pleasure and con-
solation to have reason to believe, from the solemnity of the statements ot
both, that a higher and a holier feeling than mere politics was the soul ol
this agitation. (Applause.) The reason why he expressed this pleasure was,
that of all things he dreaded the introduction of political feelings as most
destructive of their internal peace, and of that calmness of mind which dis-
poses man either for just judgment or the discharge of his religious obliga-
tions. He had known nothing which was so intoxicating in its effects, even
on good men. as that unexplained chapter in the history of the human mind,
the intluenceof party politics. He was glad, therefore, to hear the disclaim-
ers which were made this evening ; for when he had read, on a foreign shore,
of the attempt made in one of the churches here to distribute papers in the
pews, he felt how far that feeling influenced the actions of men. He had
come to this meeting because he believed it was not a political meeting ; be-
cause the question which brought that meeting together was infinitely above
anything that could be found in mere politics. ' It was a question, too, that
was not new to him ; it was a question on which he had deeply reflected
before he had departed for a foreign land, not fores^eing that it would arise
before his return, the question, namely, whether Catholic children were ex-
posed to the danger of forfeiting their faith by an attendance on these schools.
For that purpose he had obtained a copy of all the books which it was stated
to him were used in these schools, and he had examined them deliberately ;
and though he found some things that were objectionable, yet, on the whole,
they appeared to him sufficiently free from anything that could be construed
into a direct attack on their religious principles. He had had reason, however,
since his return, to believe that, in fact, all the books had not been submitted
to him, but that some books which contained objectionable matter were
withheld. He had seen one such at least, since, and he was satisfied that no
Catholic parent, who felt his responsibility to God, could suffer it as a school-
book in the hands of his children; and therefore it was, that he was inter-
ssted in the question which then engaged their attention ; not as a politi-
cian, bat as a Bishop having charge of this Diocese, answerable to the Eter-
nal judge for the discharge of his responsible duty, which included a jealous
and tender solicitude that the infant mind received only suitable food, and
such instruction as was salutary in its tendency. Then, with these remarks,
and those which had gone before, he felt, if politics were mixed up with the
question under discussion, by others, that meeting was not responsible for it ;
and he hoped that in future time, politics, except as a corollary, would be
wholly left out of consideration, and that parties and party men would be
left wholly to themselves. They would see, before he finished, the necessity
of this course. But if he could have thought that mere politics had brought
them together, he should have felt it a reproach to themselves, and a dese-
cration of that place, connected as it was with the Cathedral of the Diocese.
He therefore again rejoiced that higher purposes had brought them together ;
and he would observe that, feeling as he did the injustice exercised towards
the Catholics by the operation of the Common School system, as it was now
dispensed, if they had not been previously called together, before he had
been home three weeks, he would have warned Catholics either to have that
system of education expurgated, or to withdraw their children from it.
True, it professed to be a system of Common School education, but it was
equally true, that while its great professed charm was the expulsion of sec-
tarianism, there was in it, and inseparable from it, a sectarianism of another
kind, which was sapping the young minds of the Catholic children ; and un-
happily, though parents might impart instruction to their offspring, the ope-
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 43
dtion cf this system was snoh that the instruction of tlie parent was lilce
water diopped into a vessel tliat leaked bolow ; it passed away, and nothing
was found remaining; the labor of parents was neutralized lay secret influ-
ences, and notwithstanding all that tlieir parents and pastors were doing to
engraft in the minds of their children the taith they had received from their
fathers, tliey are entirely disappointed in the result. It was not his intention
to examine at length the tendency of the system in its civil and social bear-
vngs, nor to inquire whether a wise statesman would adopt such a system,
but he hesitated whether wise statesmen, in a country lil^e this, would
recommend it, even under these relations. Did they know whence it came 2
It originated in the dark regions of Prussia. And why? Because the King
of Prussia saw the time was coming when the people wonld be educated ;
and with the wisdom and cunning of absolute diplomacy, he thought that
education, which the people were determined to have, might be made by
delicate means, and skillful management, an admirable instrument for work-'
ing out the purposes of enlightened despotism. Hence the Common School
system of that country. And we all know what grandiloquent praises were
bestowed on the great and liberal monarch. Men exclaimed, " See what even
the absolute King of Prussia has done for the cause of education !" Oh I but
he took care to have the masters and the whole system under his own con-
trol That scheme having succeeded, another was introduced on a still more
comprehensive plan, viz., apian not only of a common education, bu-l; of a com-
mon religion. In those dominions there were two distinct branches, the
Lutherans and the Calvinists (they knew that the Catholics were not the
subjects for such an experiment), and these two branches were compelled to
meet, where they never met before, and read a common liturgy. Tlie King
allowed them, indeed, their own opinions in private : one might be Lutheran
and the other Calvinist, in private ; but, for the good of the State and the
general harmony, they were made to coalesce in a common ritual, prepared
by himself. He carried this system with the Protestants; but he could not
with the Catholics. (Applause.) From that country, then, this common
education system spread, and in France education is a mere bureau of the
Police, and yet th.it government wants credit for this syste-n of education,
and for taking from the parent his peculiar duties. They go to the parent
and say, in effect, "AVe are more interested in the education of your children
than you can be."
The Right Rev. Bishop continued: God forbid that he should even suspect
that our Government had such feelings. The policy of statesmen might be
bad, while their intentions were good, and that the policy of this system was
bad would be seen, by reflecting how it operated in religious belief. They
wished a common education, because education is one of the greatest of
blessings, and they knew no religious denomin.ation would have their con-
sciences tyrannized over. They exclude all sectarianism, so called ; but they
have here a secret power of deceit, which, wherever they go, operates on
the young mind. Now, 'this sy-stera w.<is manifestly not essential to the
preservation of the United States, or of this State ; and what were its bear-
ii\gs on the inhabitants of the State? The system has not yet been te.sted by
its results; sufiioient time has not elapsed to develop them; but when they
reflected that all morality was founded on religion, and that this was ail
attempt to make man moral on the basis of education without religion,
ho would ask what could be the harvest that such culture would produce,
and he replied, time alone can proclaim and determine. For his own part,
he was of opinion though it was not nominally infidelity, that it was practical
infidelity, and that, instead of sectarianism, they would have those with no
feeling in favor of religion; that the bearings of the system were to produce
men with no feeling but of indifference for religion, unless, perhaps, a feeling •
44 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
of contempt for religion. The wise, the immortal "Washington, he who had
so much talent and so much dignity of character, leaving, as it were, the lasi
words of the dying patriot to his' country, said, "Beware of the. man who
attempts to inculcate morality without religion." (Applause.) That was
Washington ; and he wondered whether the advocates of this system, who
])roclaimed as a point of merit that it excluded all religion, conceived them-
selves to be following in the footsteps of the illustrious Washington. The
Right Rev. Prelate th?n said he would pass from that to the religious bear-
ings of the question,'and he thought he could state to them safely that a
Catholic could not conscientiously approve this system, if he were an enlight-
ened Catholic, and understood his duty to his God and the principles of his
religion, and remembered that education comprehended the mysterious 'de-
velopment of the young mind, with its three-fold faculties of will, memory,
and understanding. The inculcation of knowledge is only a part of an en-
lightened system of education; a training of the wiLr, is as necessary as the
cultivation of the other faculties of the mind, and as the Common School sys-
tem is in this respect deficient, he repeated that a parent who undei'stood
that system, and had a knowledge of his religion and of his own responsi-
bility, would never submit to it. The Catholic primitive, continuous, per-
petual church never recognized the principles of leaving the mind of a child
without religious culture until it grew up. Such a course was contrary to
the spirit of their church, and was contrary to the practice and preaching
of the apostles to the Pagans ; for when they converted the Pagan head of a
family, the children were also trained up to the church as a part of the
formation of the mind. The parent was the coadjutor of the pastor, and
both were like guardian angels over the tender mind, and thus they transmit-
ted the blessings they enjoyed to their children. Therefore, he said, this
common system was Protestant, but it was not the system Catholics could
adopt with their children, because they gave religious instruction to their
children as a duty which was imperative, while Protestants were indepen-
dent of religious education, and were of opinion that it was best to have
religion to come at some uncertain period, when a change of heart would
occur, and a person was to "join the church." Bat Catholics Ijad the
spiritual interests of their children at heart, and their own responsibility
for their eternal welfare ; and though by sending them to these Com-
mon Schools they might not be taught Presbyterianism, or Episcopalian-
ism, or Baptism; yet, if by drop following drop, if by expression following
expression, their young minds should be influenced, alienated, and imper-
ceptibly drawn from their own faith, he asked, could a parent, knowing his
obligation to God, permit it. He contended for the right of conscience, aud
for the sacred right of every man to educate his own children ; and when
these are the consequences that follow this system of Common School educa-
tion, he asked if it were just to tax such a man for its support, while its ten-
dency was to draw away the mind of his child from the religion which ho
professed and which he desired to teach him. -(Applause.) The question
was a simple one, and he was sure they would see but very little ditf'erence
between it and the question of tithes for the support of the Protestant church
in England and Ireland. To be sure, in those countries they had uot ex-
cluded the Catholics from the churches: they said, our churches are open ;
we have provided them expressly for your benefit; if you don't come, it is
your own fault ; but whether you come or not, you must give us y<iiir mon-
ey, and they did accordingly take the Catholics' money. Did the Catholics
submit? No, they adhered to their religion, and iVhen they did not put
their own hands into their pockets, somebody else did, and took out their
money for them. (Laughte-r.) He did not ask for the Catholics anj thing
that was not just; that was not constitutional. All laws of the country—
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 45
all (Constitutional laws — are necessarily founded on the principle wliicli se.
cures to every man his religious rights, and if any law trenches on that
right, he asserted that it was not, and could not he constitutional. In this
he was borne out even hy the former practice of those who administered tho
school fund. The fact was, that for a longtime this money was distributed
among the different religious societies for the purpose of education. He was
told there were 1,500 Catholic oliildreti attending these schools: and suppose
Catholics gave them the same education tliat they would get in those schools,
did they notefiect the same benefit to the State? But if, with morality,
they also at^proper times inculcated the principles of religion, he asked
whether they should not make the rising generation better citizens, more
upright in their intercourse with their fellow-men, more ^mindful of the
sacred relations of the marriage state, and more attentive to their social du-
ties ? He had been told that the old system was not attended with inconve-
nience, but that some agent or minister of those funds had peculated or mis-
applied them — but he was not a Catholic. (Laughter.)
But why were the Catholics to suffer for the peculation of others ? It
was a constitutional principle that every man should enjoy not only his
own opinions, but that he should discharge according to his own sense of
it, Ms duty to God, of which the education of his child is one of the most
sacred. He claimed nothing for the Catholic which was not at the same
time due to other denominations — to the Jew and the Gentile. He was
pleased that the gentlemen who had preceded him had advocated no
crooked policy — the changing a name and not a cause; and he hoped the
time had gone by when Catholics would bend their heads as though to
court a burden, but that henceforth they would stand erect. It was no-
thing but simple justice which they contended for, and if tliey should not
get it, they must only submit with the philosophy which gives dignity to
disappointment. (Great applause.)
He had arrived so recently that he had not had time to examine all the
facts in the case ; but the testimony of the clergy whom he had consulted
was (Unanimous and decisive that the influence of these schools is prejudi-
cial to the faith of the Catholic children. Then the question resolved
itself into this — should they submit to this if they had the power to cor-
rect it ; or should they submit even without an effort to correct it ? That
was the question, and it had three issues. First, those who had the dispo-
sition of these funds should dispense them according to that clear and
beautiful privilege of the Constitution, which secures the religious rights
of all and inflicts evil on none. Now if they gave Catholics a portion of
that fund after taxing them for the accumulation of the fund, the benefit
to the Statewould be the same and the disposition would be consistent with
their constitutional right, and they should receive it gratefully from those
who had the iDower to give it. But if they insisted that Catholics should
pay their money, and after seeing that they did pay, no real benefit was
conferre.d on them in return, but injui-y, he left it to those concerned whe-
ther they would go on in support of a system of that kind. He had an
illustration in point — not one furnished by Catholics, but by another de-
nomination whose magnanimity in contending for the principle of right
did them credit — ^he alluded to" the Synod of Ulster, the Presbyterians of
Ireland. They saw a system of religious instruction for the National
Schools in Ireland made up by the Government, as a kind of mixture of
diluted Scripture into essays which would suit either Unitarians, or Meth-
odists, or Baptists, or Episcopalians — a religious compound which did
not mean any thing precisely, but from which any one might take what ho
pleased. Now the Presbyterians, according to their religious belief, had a
fixed principle that the Bible, the whole Bible, and the Bible alone, was
40 ARCHBISHOP HCTGHES.
the best book of Education, and they protested against this system which
did not admit the Bible; and they stood up for their_ rights, and that.
strong iron-handed government, as it is, granted their claim ; and he asked
if it would not have been doing violence to those people to have taxed
them for the support of a system that would have been destructive of their
religious principles. Here was a case in point; and in precisely the same
course they were called upon by the circumstances of the present case, to
follow. And let him observe that men may weigh but little, and political
parties may weigh but little, and in point of importance, even money may
weigh but little : men may change, but if they took principle for their
guide and disencumbered it of all the rubbish of politics and all such
things, they would see it shine like a ray of light. What was the princi-
ple in this case to consider which they were convened together ? Why if
they were convinced, as he was, of the evil of the present system, they
could not send their children to these Common Schools with safety, as they
are now constituted. It remained, then, that they ask those having
the power to dispense a remedy to do it. If Catholics contributed to the
funds and a proportion were returned to them to be expended in precisely
the same way as at present, while Catholics preserved their direct religious
rights, they would be content, and no other party would have cause to
complain. But, as he had a book used in these Common Schools with him,
which had been this day handed to him by Dr. Power, he would read one
of its amiable little chapters to show its insidious and dangerous tendency
and to illustrate the system. The chapter is as follows :
It was Sunday morning. All the bells were ringing for church, and all the streets
were filled with people, moving in all directions, and here numbers of well-dressed
persons, and a long train of charity children were thronging in at the wide doors of a
handsome church ; there a nuaiber equally gay in dress were entering an elegant
meeting-house. A Roman Catholic congregation was turning into their chapel; every
one crossing himself, with a finger dipped in holy water, as he went in.
The opposite side of the street was covered with Quakers, distinguished by their
plain and neat attire, who walked without ceremony into a room as plain as themselves,
and took their seats, the men on one side, the women on the other, in silence. A
spacious building .was filled with an overflowing crowd of Methodists, while a small
society of Baptists assembled in the neighborhood.
Presently the services began. Some of the churches resounded with the solemn
organ, and the murmuring of voices following the minister in prayer; in others a single
voice was heard ; and in the quiet assembly of the Quakers not a sound was uttered.
Mr. Ambrose led his son Edwin round these assemblies; he observed them all with
great attention, but he did not so much as whisper lest he should interrupt any one.
When he was alone with his father, " Why," said Edwin, " do not all people agree to
go to the same place, and to worship Ood in the same way ? "
"And why should they agree?" replied his father. "'Do you not see that people
differ in a hundred other things? Do they all dress alike, and eat and drink alike, and
keep the same hours, and use the same diversion ?"
" In those things they have a right to do as they please," said Edwin.
" They have a right, too," answered his father, " to worship God as they please. It
is their own business, and concerns none but themselves."
And this, said the Rt. Rev. Bishop, is one of the lessons for cliildren. Now,
who does not see the malice of this, and how it will operate on the minds of
children of quick perceptions ? and children are capable of observing, and of im-
bibing in their souls cither good or bad instruction, at a very eflrly age,
" Tliey have a right, too," answered his father, " to worship God as they please It is
Iheir own business, and concerns none but themselves."
" But has not God ordered particular ways of worshiping him ?"
Why the child appears to have much more sense than his father. (Laughter.)
" But has not God ordered particular ways of worshiping him ?"
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 47
" He has directed the mind and spirit witti which he is to be worshiped, but not the
manner. Tluit is left for every one to choose. All these people like their own way lest."
And this to children, you observe.
" The several congregations now began to be dismissed, and streets were again over-
spread with persons going to their own homes. It clianced that a poor man fell dciwn
in tlie street in a fit of apoplexy, and lay for dead; his wife and children stood round
him, crying and lamenting in the bitterest distress. The beholders immediately flocked
round, and with looks and expressions of compassion gave their help. A Chureliman
raised the man from the ground by lifting him nnder the arms, while a Presbyterian
held his head, and wiped his face with his'handkerchief. A Roman Catholic lady took
nut her smelling-bottle, and applied it to her nose. A Methodist ran for a doctor. A
Quaker supported and comforted the woman ; and a Baptist took care of the children."
Edwin and his fa;her looked on. " Here," said Mr. Ambrose, " is a thing onwhich man-
kind is made to agree." '
So that religion is a matter of choice, but humanity is that in which all
agree. Why, he asked, if this humanity did not exist before Jesus Christ?
Yes, the Pagans understood it. But the malice was not so much in approving
good actions as in tljrowing ridicule on all religion; and yet this is the system
of instruction which our statesmen adopt for our youth — a system which will
give us what Washington cautioned us against, " morality without religion."
Let there bo granted to the Catholics a fair and just proportion of the funds
appropriated for the Common Schools, provided the Catholics will do with it
the same thing that is done in the Common Schools,.and leave no reason to
complain that the system is not followed. If they will do that they will take
away the Catholic's cause of anxiety for his children. Then, if they will not
give the Catholics a due proportion of the funds, let them be released from tlie
taxes for the creation of this fuad. But if they will do neither, and the present
system is insisted upon, the question is whether Catholics, even in this country,
are not compelled to do that for the Common Schools, which the Catholics of
Ireland do for the English church, contribute to that of which, in their con-
sciences, they cannot avail themselves. (Applause.)
One word, in conclusion, of politics and political men. For his part, he had
reason to believe — there were good patriots no doubt of both parties, though
perhaps such men were small ir\ numbers — but his opinion of the mass of them
was, that they care very little for us or for our rights, provided they can have
our services. That was his opinion of them generally speaking ; and therefore
he belonged to neither party ; nor should he ever belong to either party. ^Great
applause.) He cared not much which party succeeded ; he thought that both
one and the other were like the two sides of a copper; but one thing he should
like to see, whichever party might be in power — he should like to see justice
done to Catholics, for great respect for them was professed when their services
were required. He conceived, then, the principles to which he had adverted
claimed their first regard ; and if it were, as it struck him, then the Catholics'
first duty should be to secure the rights of conscience for themselves and for
their children. Men were changing, and be advised them, strenuously advised
them to look simply to principle. It would be to them a guide ; and whatever
course was taken, he should like to see them throw overboari person entirely.
He should like to see principle laid down as the guide of Catholics ; and this
principle spread out to reasonable men of every party, showing that they had
not a fair participation in the rights of conscience, of which this system deprived
them. Then they would be able to judge between friends and enemies, and he
could hot be a true American that would impose burdens to support a system
which weakened their children's regard for religion, and drew them from the
faith of their fathers. That was precisely the view in which the case presented
itself to him ; and whether this question had come up or not, before liis re-
turn, it had been his intention most assuredly to draw the attention of Catho-
ics to it. But now let them not be ready to impute motives — evil' motix es to
48 ARCnEISHOP HUGHES.
each other. Let them always be cautious not to ™Pyt<=j5ad >^?«^«f *°^f;^|j
other. Men will differ in their views; and he who is ^f |t°. ^P"^^/.,,;^
motive to his neighbor, is most liable to be misrepresented hmselt in turn
There was a way of treLting all questions, and yet leaving "^«^ ^^ characters
safe-not to weigh men's intentions, but leave them to God. I' 7^, "°;, *°^
men, living men, to judge of the intentions of their fellow-men. But let them
as Catholics and as citizens prove themselves worthy of that constitution under
which they lived, and which they must be prepared to support. Jiut couia
they support the system which he had explained? He was satisfied they
could not, and on this subject he believed there was not a difference of opinion
in the whole body of the clergy in New York.
[The Right Rev. Prelate resumed his seat amidst great applause.]
Meeting in tlie Basement of St. James' Clmrch,
Jnly27, 1840
Pursuant to a resolution of the meeting held in St. Patrick's
School-room, an adjourned meeting of the Catholics of New York
was held in the School-room in the basement of St. James' Church,
James street. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was called to the chair, and
the secretaries of previous meeting were re-elected to their respective
offices. One of the secret.aries having read the minutes of the last
meeting, the venerable chairman opened the business of the evening
with a few pertinent remarks, during which the Right Reverend
Bishop Hughes entered the room, accompanied by a large body of
clergymen, and on being recognized he was loudly cheered. The
applause having subsided, the chairman proceeded with his re-
marks, and made allusion to some published statements respecting
liis share in the series of meetings which they had held, and
denied thjit he was ambitious to be more than a subaltern in their
just and righteous cause — a cause which that great meeting proved
to be one of deep and general interest with the Catholics of the
city — and a cause which interested so large a number, he was satis-
fierl, must ultimately succeed. That it had not succeeded before,
he believed, was attributable to the fact that the public dill not un-
derstand the question, nor would they attenrd to it until Catbolica
THE SCHOOL QUESTION'. >; 49
made themselves heard. He repudiated any political feeling in
connection with this subject, and counseled the Catholics to unani-
mity, for a house divided against itself cannot stand. The Com-
mon School Systeih with which they warred, he designated as a
monopoly of the worst kind, and in illustration of its evils he said
that now $111,000 a year were spent for the education of less
than 12,000 children, whereas, if the claims of the Catholics were
conceded, upwards of 30,000 children would be educated for the
same amount. After a few other observations he resumed his seat
loudly applauded.
The Right Reverend Bishop Hughes then came forward and was
received with great applause. He said, as the evening was short,
and as the object of the meeting was practical, he had deemed it
unnecessary to wait for a formal introduction, and especially as his
remarks had been so ably anticipated by their respected and vener-
able chairman, with whose sentiments, which his long experience,
and matured judgment, and sound Catholic feeling had inspired him
to utter, he (the Bishop) fully concurred. He entirely concurred
with the sentiment that in this country, when light is diffused on
any question in which justice and injustice are involved, the Ameri-
can people would deal justly, and not oppress any portion of the
people with injustice. He likewise concurred with their venerable
chairman in \he opinion that up to this time the question which
then occupied their attention had not been properly understood ; he
would go so far as to say that the persons who had declined
granting their reasonable request, had done so because they had
not understood the justice of their claims — nay, further, when this
matter was thoroughly understood, he was satisfied that even the
gentlemen connected with the public schools would admit their
claim. He was authorized to make this statement from a knowl-
edge of the genius and constitution of this nation. Here let but
their grievances be made known, and every honest man, and every
true American — every man who understands the justice and fair
play of the American constitution— would be ready to redress their
grievances. [Applause.]
Passing from the necessity for spreading abroad the true ground
of their claim, he would come to the design and intention of the
Legislature of this State in granting a bounty for the promotion of
education. And he would contend that it was a libel on the char-
acter of this great State to suppose it was e\'er intended or de-
signed that the education of the children of the poor should be
partial or injurious to some ; and he felt authorized, a,lso, from the
character and professions of those statesmen, to say that their in-
tention was both good and honest, that it was prompted in good
faith, and with a desire that every poor man's child should have
the benefit of this bounty, without any encroachment on any civil
privilege or religious right. [Applause.] Yet, notwithstanding
that this was the design, they saw that intention had been most
admirably defeated — that the object was prevented, and that the
4
50 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
matter had now assumed such a form that, contrary to the inten-
tions of the Legislature, Catholics were virtually excluded trom the
benefits of the system. This they would have an opportunity ot
seeing before he had done. No doubt, the intention was that the
money should be expended to make education general ; for every
enlightened and educated man was convinced that education was
such a blessing that he should not be consulting the true interests
of the country, unless he were disposed to fosfer the education of
the young ; but did they think it would be worthy an enlightened
American Legislature to conceive such a design, and to plan it lor
the purpose of impairing the universal right of conscience and its
liberty ? [Applause.]
The histoty of the application of this bounty of the State had been
already alluded to. The first principle was that this bounty of the
State should be apportioned to the different religious societies, that
they might educate the children under their charge; but because one
peculated or perverted this bounty to iniquitous purposes, not con-
templated by the Legislature, the whole was put under the manage-
ment of school directors— he might not be right in the use of
terms, but they Would know what he meant — and they were to
visit the schools, and one principle which they were to carry out was
to exclude sectarianism utterly and entirely ; and in examining the
reasons of the Common Council for refusing to accede to the claim
of Catholics, they found that this exclusion of sectarianism was
thought the great charm of the system, but he should show them that
it did not exclude sectarianism, and that its directors knew it did not,
and that they knew it operated injuriously on Catholics. Under this
state of the case they were to set their grievances before the commu-
nity— the grievance of being obliged to contribute to the support
of a system from which they could derive no benefit, but which was
perverted as an instrument to destroy their religion in the minds of
the children under the pretence of excluding sectarianism. But now,
to convince them that the exclusion of sectarianism was impossible —
did not those directors each belong to some sect ? Did not the gen-
tlemen putting the books into the hands of the children belong to
some sect? He came to this point that they either belonged to some
sect or acted on the principles of deism ; and, though this system
had now no name under a religious head, it was either deism or sec-
tarianism. If it were said that it was not sectarianism, he wanted to
know what was Christianity ; for if they excluded all sects, they ex-
cluded all Christianity. Where are the Christians ? Take away Ca-
tholics, and Baptists, and Methodists, and Presbyterians and some
others — and they were all sects — take away all the sects, and they
had no more Christianity in the land. N"or could they exclude secta-
rianism? And if they did, what remained but deism? There was
no alternative. It was as plain as that two and two are four. And
did they suppose that this community which belonged to one^or the
other sect would subscribe to a system which in its essence was anti-
Christian? Exclude sectarianism! and in a country, too, which
THE SCHOOL QUESTIGIT. 51
prides itself on its Christiatiity ! He should like to know, then, what
sect would receive the greatest benefit from this system? why, the
sect that excluded sectarianisni — the " Common School Sect," for it
ought to have a name. [Laughter.] Now let them examine for a
moment the school-books used nnder this system, a couple of which
had fallen into his hands, and ttiey had here a reading lesson on the
" Character of Martin Luther." Now, no doubt Martin Luther had a
character — [laughter] — but people draAV it very differently. Here it
was drawn by one of his admirers — Catholics, thanks to the education
which they gave him, may think highly of his talents, but they have
not much admiration of his virtues — here was a chapter on his char-
a,cter drawn by Dr. Robertson, a Presbyterian ! But would Catho-
lics wishing to educate their children put Dr. Robertson's character
of him into their hands ? Here he was made out one of the greatest
men that ever lived. [Laughter.] But let that pass. Next they
had a chapter on the '■'■Execulinii of Cranmer^Archhislio-p of Canterbury. "
And was that by a Roman Catholic ? Oh no ; they would not trust
a lesson by a Roman Catholic into the school ; but they introduced
this chapter written by Hume, the historian whose veracity they all
could appreciate. [Laughter.] Another chapter was entitled the
^'■Character of the Great Founder of Christianity." What a name! The,
Great Founder of Christianity ! instead of saying our Lord Jesus
Christ. And who is this from ? Dr. Beattie, a Scotch Presbyterian !
But did they want their children to be taught by him? The next
chapter was entitled "27ie Spirit and Laws of Christianity superior
to those of any other religion." And this was a lesson for children !
And who was this from? Dr. Beattie again. Now might they
not as well seclect lessons for children from the life of Sir Thomas
Moore, the Lord Chancellor of England, who gave his head to
the block rather than sacrifice his religion ; or from those glorious
.nnnals of patriotism which show how Catholic bishops and barons
wrung from a king that charter which was now perverted against
them. [Applause.] But Catholics did not want their children to be
educated by the conductors of this Common School System, whose
intentions might possibly be good, though Catholics believed them
to be mistaken, at least. The anxiety betrayed to get Catholics to
these schools, was proof in, itself that there was something in the sys-
tem that Catholics could not agree to. Need he go further ? If it
were necessary he could appeal to that Church and to others for proofs
of the sacrifices they (the Catholics) had made for the preparation
of a place for the education of their children free from the poisonous
infection of those Common Schools. What induced them to provide
some shelter like this, in which they were now assembled for the pro-
tection of their children, but that they deemed it a blessing to give
good instruction to their children instead of thajt poison which would
pervert their minds from the faith which they reverenced, and which
they had received from their fathers ?
But here was another book entitled, " Lessons for Schools, taken
from the Holy Scriptures, in the Words of the Text, without Note or
52 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Comment." But when did Catholics allow the Scriptures to he given
to children that they might he learnt, "Without Note or Comment
admitting even that these were the true Scriptures? and he asked if
this was not a direct interference with the religion of Catholics and
if so, why should they tolerate it if they had the power to obtain re-
dress, or even to appeal against it. !f he had access to the libraries
of these Common Schools he should find them stuffed full of books
that were obnoxious to Cathohcs and to their feehngs ; but, as these
books were now being called in, it was very difficult to get tnem,
though not long since any child might have them gratis, and he
Bhould therefore call their attention to a quotation from a recent
publication on these books by a writer who was well acquamted
with the subject :
" In each of the PubUe Schools there is estabUshed a library to which the more
advanced scholars have access— and what do we find there? ' Martin Luther and
' An Irish Heart.' The latter is addressed to the ' Irish Protestant Association ot
the city of Boston."
'Not to Boston alone, but to its essence and spirit — the
" 'Protestant Association' of the city of Boston, and is a libefnpon the Catholics,
and an insult to the Irish. From the preface I extract the following : ' The emi-
gration from Ireland to America, of annually increasing numbers, extremely needy,
and in many cases drunken and depraved, has become a subject for grave and fear-
ful reflection. Should this influx continue for a few years more, in the same ratio
of increase which has existed for a few years past ; should this imposing subject^
continue to be thought unworthy of legislative provision, and should the materials'
of this oppressive influx continue to be the same, instead of an asylum our country
might be appropriately styled the common sewer of Ireland.' From page_ 24 I
copy the following verbatim : ' As for old Phelim Maghee, be was of no particular
religion.' "
Well, then he belonged to this Common School System, said
the Bishop. [Laughter.]
" ' "When Phelim had laid up a good stock of sins, he now and then went over to
KiBarney, <?f a Sabbath morning, and got relaaf by confissing them out o' the way,
as he used to express it, and sealed his soul up with a wafer, and returned quite
invigorated for the perpetration of new offences.' " '
There is a lesson for your children in a school system which pro-
fesses the exclusion of all sectarianism !
Again, on page 120, when speaking of intemperance, we find the
following :
" ' It is more probably, however, a part of the papal system.' "
Father Mathew, for instance.
" ' For, when drunkenness shall have been done away, and with it that just, re-
lative proportion of all indolence, ignorance, crime, misery, and superstition, of
•which it is the putative jiarent, then, truly, a much smaller portion of mankind
may bo expected to follow the dark lantern of the Eomish religion.' "
And we read this while we see Father Mathew going abroad, and
hundreds of Protestants joining Father Mathew. He spoke of this
as one of the books of learning which were unfit to be introduced
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. &3,
int.0 schools fi'om which all sectarianism was professed, to be ex-
cluded. But it goes on :
*" ' That religion is most likely to find professors among the frivolous and the
■wicked, which by a species of ecclesiastical legerdemain can persuade the sinner
that he is going to heaven when he is going directly to l)ell. By a refined and
complicated system of Jesuitry and prelatical juggling ' " —
That, I suppose, is a hint for me —
" ' the papal see has obtained its present extensive influence through the world.' "
Now he would leave it to themselves whether that system, which
professed to exclude all sectarianism, and yet adopted books like
these, would stand the test of examination before an enlightened
community ; he wished to know how any gentleman could stand up
before the Common Council and say that in it there was no secta-
rianism ; he wanted to know how these books could be defended ,
and he wished to know on what ground any gentleman who re-
ported on the part of the Common Council could have justified
the refusal of the claims of Catholics, with such truths as these
before him.
But, passing from this state of the case, he would call their atten-
tion to the disadvantages under which Catholics labored by the
operation of this system. And first, though not the greatest, yet
what in a country like this must be deemed unconstitutional, was
taxation for the support of a system by which they were not ben-
efited. It was a great grievance to take the money of Catholics for
that from Avhich no benefit was realized. But the next objection
was, its inequality. They found a system supported by the commu-
nity in general which gave instruction to the children of their
neighbor^ who knew not or cared not how it operated on the reli-
gious training of his child ; while the Catholic who did care for the
interests of his child's religious principles could not, for that reason,
conscientiously partake of its advantages. But its inequality was
equaled by its injustice: for why were they taxed for siuch a sys-
tem, when that system is so perverted as to make it their duty to
relinquish its benefits, rather than sacrifice that which was of greater
importance. The next fact was, the operation of this system on
their children ; and he asked them to judge for themselves, from the
specimens they have had, what must be the inevitable effect on their
children. But this was not all ; for after submitting to taxation for
this system, they were obliged to tax themselves anew, as well as
their means would permit, to give their children an education that
would not compromise their religious faith. Now, if he had an oppor-
tunity to address the gentlemen more intimately mixed up with the
Common School System, he would desire them to bring their better
feelings to contemplate the scene in this place when the children of
the poor came there, and not only the children but their teachers,
who were willing to sacrifice health and hfe that they might impart
instruction to their minds ; he would bring them here and ask them
to look upon the spectacle ; he would ask them, also, if it were just
54 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
that 'they should be deprived of the benefit of an education which
the money of their parents contributed to provide ; he would ask
them if it were just that these children should come here with ba»e
feet, during inclement weather— and why bare feet? because the
money had been expended in books, which should have purchased
them shoes. The Legislature did not intend that they should be
thus excluded from the benefits of this system ; nor yet that the
children of the poor emigrant should not participate in it, for they
are poor, and for the poor in an especial manner was it intended,
that they might become good citizens. They, then, were the victims
of a system which was so perverted that they could not, without
sacrificing their consciences, send their children to participate in its
benefits, for which they had, in common Avith other citizens, sub-
scribed the funds.
Now, with this outline of the case, which he should be glad to
see in print and sent abroad to justify their course, he came to the
remedy ; for he did not suppose they would present themselves to
the constituted authorities and demand this money, unless they could
show it was right. They did not ask a favor ; but, according to
sound judgment, & public right, to which they were entitled. Nor
was it expedient that those in power should grant that which the
Catholics demanded, until they had shown them some good and
sound reason, and its justice and propriety ; and, therefore, he was
glad that their grievances were laid before the whole land and were
not confined to that room. They must seize the public attention,
and if their just claim was still denied, then let it be branded on the
flag of America that Catholics were denied and deprived of equal
rights. [Applause.] It appeared, from the history of their pro-
ceedings before his arrival, that difficulties had been thrown in their
way most inexpediently, most injudiciously, and he might use a
harsher expression still in respect to the sentiments put forth in
relation to their agitation against the abominable system which ex-
cludes all. Christianity, but does no good. That anybody calling
himself a Catholic could have used such language was indeed sur-
prising; and they could only suppose that such an individual. did
not know his religion or what this Common School System was.
But let that pass. There had been another diflSoulty — that those to
whom the law entrusted the disposition of this money were not the
persons by whom it was originally recommended. It might happen,
in some cases, that those not in power should be ready to recom-
mend a measure with the hope that they might embarrass others.
Now, in matters of this kind, reflecting men would not regret a
benefit because those recommended it who were not usually of their
own way of thinking. It reminded him of a man who should be
without his breakfast till about eleven o'clock, and is then recom-
mended by his enemy to take it ; but, says another, " You know I
have ever been your friend, while he has been your enemy, and I
recommend you to wait." After listening to both advisers, the man
says : " In the first place, have I the right to my breakfast ? If so,
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 55
it is no matter who recommends it. It is not because this man or
that man recommends it, but because I have the right to it, that I
will take it. In addition, it is near twelve o'clock, and I feel hun-
gry ; and no doubt, after taking it, I shall feel better. Indepen-
dently, then, of your advice. — and you both wish me well — I have
reasons of my own for eating my breakfast, with which I hope you
will be satisfied." And so it was on this Common School Question.
It was very silly to bring such reasons here as had been stated, and
he hoped they were now excluded.
He feared he was taxing their patience and employing the time
that would be more usefully employed by others, and therefore he
would conclude with the remark, that they must bear in mind they
were not to accomplish this work in a day. They would have to
speak to those by whom they expected justice to be done them ;
they would have to difiuse light, for there were in the country
public men of high honor and good feeling of all parties — men who
really wished to be just ; and if others were mere trading politi-
cians, he hoped- they would be mindful of that old adage, which
was as true here as elsewhere, " Honesty is the best policy ;" and
if they wanted_to be successful politicians, their course was to be
honest politicians. He was aware that even where politicians were
not honest, from Maine to Georgia, their policy was to appear so :
but there were men independent of this class that were men of gen-
erous minds and pure motives, who sympathized with the people
and were watchful of the interests of the country, and who would
grant the justice to which Catholics were entitled, and drive out
from this system that sectarianism which its professed friends say
does not exist in it. In order, then, to proceed in the way which
cases of the kind require, he would suggest the adoption of the fol-
lowing preamble and resolutions :
Whereas, The wisdom and liberality of the Legislature of this State
did provide, at the public expense, for the education of the poor
children of the State, without injury or detriment to the civil and
religious rights vested in their parents or guardians by the laws of
nature and of the land : And, whereas, Catholics contribute and have
always contributed their proportion to the funds from which that
system is supported : And, whereas, the administration of that system,
as now conducted, is such that the parents or guardians of Catholic
children cannot allow them to frequent such schools without doing
violence to those rights of conscience which the Constitution secures
equal and inviolable to all citizens, viz. : They cannot allow their
children to be brought up under a system which proposes to shut
the door against Christianity, under the pretext of excluding secta-
rianism, and which yet has not the merit of being true to its bad
promise : And, whereas, CathoUcs who are the least wealthy and
most in need of the education intended by the bounty of the State,
are thus cut off from the benefit of funds to which they are obliged
to contribute, and constrained either to contribute new funds for
the purposes of education among themselves, or else to see their
0& AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
children brought up under a system of free-thinking and practical
irreligion, or else see them left to that ignorance which they dread,
and which it was the benevolent and wise intention of the Legisla-
ture to remove. Therefore,
1. Resolved, That the operation of the Common Schoolbystem, as
the same is now administered, is a violation of our civil and reli-
gious rights. ' T -■• ■
2. Hr.mhed, That we should not be worthy of our proud distinc-
tion as Americans and American citizens, if we did not resist such
invasion by every lawful means in our power.
3. Hesohed, That in seeking the redress of our grievances, we
have confidence in our rulers, more especially as by granting that
redress they will but carry out the principles of the Constitution,
which secures equal civil and religious rights to all.
4. Mesolved, That a committee of eight be appointed to prepare
and report an address to the Catholic community and the public at
large, on the injustice which is done to the Catholics, in their civil
and religious rights by the present operation of the Common School
System.
5. Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to prepare
a report on the public moneys which h.ave been expended by the
bounty of this State for education, both in Colleges and in Common
Schools, to which Catholics have contributed their proportion of
taxes like other citizens, but from which they have never received
any benefit.
The resolutions having been unanimously adopted collectively,
the committees designated in the resolutions were then appointed
by the chairman, as follows : Rt. Kev. Bishop Hughes, James W.
McKeon, Thomas O'Connor, Dr. Sweeney, James W. White, James
Kelley, Gregory Dillon, B. O'Connor, John SIcLoughlin : C. F.
Grim, James "W. McKeon.
ADDRESS
OF THE CATHOLICS TO THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE
CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK.
Speech of Right Rev. Bishop Hughes.
A GESTEEAL meeting of the Catholics of New York was held in
the basement of St. James' Church, James street, on Monday,
August 10, 1840, on the subject of Common School Education, and
the claim of the Catholics to a portion of the Common School Fund.
The meeting was very numerously attended. Thomas O'Connor,
Esq., was again called to the chair, and the secretaries of the pre<
vious meetings were also re-elected.
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 51
The Right Reverend Bishop Hughes, having entered tlie room
nccompanied by a numerous body of the clergy, was received with
enthusiastic plaudits. He then, as the chairman of the committee
appointed by the last meeting to prepare an address to the public
on the subject ■which those UK^etings were convened to discuss, came
forward and said, the object they had in view, in drafting and
adopting a report, was that the public at large might be informed
of the nature of their pretensions, and of the grie\ances of which
they comjDlained, in order that if there were in the public a sympa-
thetic response to their cry for justice, it might come forth. For
himself he had but little doubt of the issue, for he had great con-
fidence in the public justice. And whatever m.ight be the conduct
of the editors of the daily journals, and of others who were but ob-
scurely informed, or who but darkly understood the nature of their
position, he still hoped that when they comprehended thoroughly
the ground on which Catholics stood, they would not persevere in
the course of w^hich their venerable chairman so justly complained.
[Applause.] With the permission of the meeting, he would then
read the draft of the report which was about to be submitted to
them. The Right Reverend Prelate then read the following address,
which was received with responsive cheers throughout :
ADDRESS
Of the Soman Catholics, to their Fellow Citizens of the City and State
of New York.
Fellow Citizens :
We, the Roman Catholics of the City of N'ew York, feeling that
both our civil and religious rights are abridged and injuriously
affected by the operation of the Common School System, and by
the construction which the Common Council have lately put on the
laws authorizing that system, beg leave to state our grievances, with
the deepest confidence in the justice of the American character;
that if our complaints are well founded, you will assist us in obtain-
ing the redress to which we are entitled — if they are not well
founded, Ave are ready to abandon them.
' We are Americans and American cjtiiens. If some of us are
foreigners, it is only by the accident of birth. As citizens, our am-
bition is to be Americans — and if we cannot be so by birth, we are
so by choice and preference, which we deem an equal evidence of
our affection and attachment to the Laws and Constitution of the
country. But our children, for whose rights as well as our own we
contend in this matter, are Americans by nativity. So that we are
either, like yourselves, natives of the soil, or, like your fathers from
the Eastern world, have become Americans under the sanction of
the Constitution, by the birthright of selection and prefei'ence.
We hold, therefore, the same idea of our rights that you hold of
58 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
yours. We wish not to diminish yours, but only to secure and
enjoy our own. Neither have we the slightest suspicion that you
would wish us to be deprived of any privilege, which you claim for
yourselves. If then we have suffered by tlie operation of the
Common School System in the City, of New York, it is to be im-
puted rather to our own supineness, than to any wish on your part
that we should be aggrieved.
The intention of the Legislature of this State in appropriating
public funds for the purposes of popular schools, must have been
(whatever construction the lawyers of the Common Council put upon
it) to diffuse the blessings of education among the people, without
encroachment on the civil and religious rights of the citizens. It
was, it must have been, to have implanted in the minds of youth,
principles of knowledge and virtue, which would secure to the State
a future population of enlightened and virtuous, int'tead of ignorant
and vicious members.
This was certainly their general intention, and no other would
have justified their bountiful appropriation of the public funds. But
in carrying out the measure, this patriotic and wise intention has
been lost sight of; and in the City of New York, at least, under the
late arbitrary determination of the present Common Council, such
intention of the legislature is not only disregarded, but the high
public ends to which it was directed, are manifestly being defeated.
Here knowledge, according to the late decision, mere secular knowl-
edge, is what we are to understand by education, in the sense of the
legislature of New York. And if you should allow the snaallest ray
of religion to enter the school-room ; if you should teach the chil-
dren that there is an eye that sees every wicked thought, that there
is a God, a state of rewards and punishment beyond this life ; then,
according to the decision of the Common Council, you forfeit all
claim to the bounty of the State, although your scholars should have
become as learned as Newton, or wise as Socrates. Is then, we
would ask you, fellow citizens, a practical rejection of the Christian
religion in all its forms, and without the substitution of any other,
the basis on which you would form the principles and character of
the future citizens of this great Commonwealth ? Are the meek
lessons of religion and virtue, which pass from the mother's lips into
the heart of her child, to be chilled and frozen by icy contact with
a system of education thus interpreted ?
Is enlightened villainy so precious in the public eye, that science
is to be cultivated whilst virtue is neglected, and religion, its only
adequate groundwork, is formally and authoritatively proscribed ?
Is it your wish that vice should thus be elevated from its low and
natural companionship with ignorance, and be married to knowledge
imparted at the pubhc expense ?
We do not say that even the Common Council profess to require
that the Christian religion should be excluded from the Common
Schools. They only contend that the inculcation of each or any of
its doctrines would be sectarianism, and thus lest sectai-ianisia
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 59
should be admitted Christianity is substantially excluded. Chris-
tianity in this country is made up of the different creeds of tlie vari-
ous denominations, and siiico all these creeds are proscribed, the
Christian rehgion necessarily is banished from the hall of public edu-
cation.
The objections ■which we have thus far stated, fellow citizens,
ought to appear to you, in our opinion, as strong to you as they do
to us. For though we may differ in our definition of the religion
of Christ, still we all generally profess to believe, to revere it, as the
foundation of moral virtue and of social happiness. Now we know
of no fixed principle of infidelity, except in the negation of the
Christian religion ? The adherents of this principle may differ in
other points of skejDticism, but in rejecting Christianity they are
united. Their confession of faith is a belief in the negative of Chris-
tianity— but they reject it in toto — whilst the Common School rejects
Jt5 only in all its several parts, under the name of Sectarianism.
It is manifest, therefore, that the Public School System of the
City of IsTeW York, is entirely favorable to the sectarianism of infi-
delity, and opposed only to that of positive Christianity. And is it
your wish, fellow citizens, is it your wish more than ours, that infi-
\delity should have a predominancy and advantages, in the public
Ischools, which are denied to Christianity ? Is it your wish that your
children should be brought up under a system of education so
called, which shall detach theo from the Christian belief which you
profess, whatever it may be — and prepare them for initiation into
the mysteries of Fanny Wrightism, or any other scheme of infidelity
which may come in their way? Are you willing that your chil-
dren, educated at your expense, shall be educated on a principle
antagonist to the Christian religion ? that you shall have the toil and
labor of cultivating the ground, and sowing the seed, in order that
infidelity may reap the harvest.
With us it is matter of surprise that conscientious persons of all
Christian denominations have not been struck with this bad feature
of the system as understood by the Common Council. A new sec-
tarianism antagonist to all Christian sects has been generated in, not
the common schools, as the State originally understood the term, but
in the ^j7.(J/!c schools of the Public School Society ; this new secta-
rianism is adopted by the Common Council of the City, and is sup-
ported, to the exclusion of all others, at the public expense. Have
the conscientious Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Luthera''
and others, no scruples of conscience at seeing their children
the children of their poor brought up undei- this new sectarip
It is not for us to say, but for ourselves we can speak. And at
not be parties to such a system, except by legal compulsio.
against conscience. i ""--
Let us not be mistaken. We do not deny to infidels for uuJDelief
any rights to which any other citizen is entitled.
But we hold that the Common School System as it has been lately
interpreted by the Common Council of the City, necessarily trans-
62 AECHEISHOP HUGHES.
York convinced us that we could not discharge our conscitmtions
duty to oui- offspring, if we allowed them to be brought up under
the influence of the irreligious principles on which those scliools are
conducted, and to some of which we have already alluded. But
besides these, there were other grounds of distrust and danger
which soon forced on us the conclusion that the benefits of pubUc
education were not for us. Besides the introduction of the Holy
Scriptures without note or comment, with the prevailing theory that
from these even children are to get their notions of religion, contrary
to our principles, there were in the class books of those schools fafte
(as we believe) historical statements respecting the men and things
of past times calculated to fill the minds of our children with errors
of fact, and at the same time to excite in them prejudice against the
religion of their parents and guardians. These passages were not
considered as sectarian, inasmuch as they had been selected as mere
reading lessons, and were not in, favor of any particular sect, but
merely against the Catholics. .We feel it is unjust that such pas-
sages should be taught at all in schools, to the support of which we
I are contributors as well as others. But that such books should be
put into the hands of our own children, and that in part at our own
expense, was in our opinion unjust, unnatural, and at all events to
us intolerable. Accordingly, through veiy great additional sacri-
fices, we have been obliged to provide schools, under our churches
and elsewhere, in which to educate our children as our conscientious
duty required.' This we have done to the number of some thousands
for several years past, during all of which time we have been obliged
to pay taxes ; and we feel it unjust and oppressive that whilst we
educate our children, as well we contend as they would be at the
public schools, we are denied our portion of the school fund, simply
because we at the same time endeavor to train them up in principles
of virtue and religion. This we feel to be unjust and unequal. For
we pay taxes in proportion to our numbers, as other citizens. We
arc supposed to be from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
thousand in the State.
And although most of us are poor, still the poorest man amongst
us is obliged to pay taxes, from the sweat of his brow, in the rent
of his room or little tenement. Is it not then hard and unjust that
such a man cannot have the benefit of education for his child with-
out sacrificing the rights of his religion and conscience ? He sends
his child to a school under the protection of his Church, in which
these rights will be secure. But he has. to support this school also.
In Ireland he was compelled to support a church hostile to his re-
ligion, and here he is compelled to support schools in which his
religion fares but little better, and to support his own school be-
sides.
Is this state of things, fellow-citizens, and especially Americans
is this state of things worthy oi xjou, worthy of our country, worthy
of our just and glorious constitution? Put yourself in the poor
man's place, and say whether you -would not despise him if he did
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 63
not labor by every lawful mfeans to emancipate himself from lliis
bondage. He has to pay double taxation for the education of his
'child,_one to the misinterpreted law of the land, and another to his
conscience. He sees his child going to school with perhaps only the
fragment of a worn-out book, thinly clad, and its bare feet on the
frozen pavement ; whereas, if he had his rights he could improve
the clothing, he could get better books, and have his child better
taught than it is possible in actual circumstances.
Nothing can be more false than some statements of our motives,
which have been put forth against us.
It has been asserted that we seek our share of the school funds
for the support and advance of our religion.
We beg to assure you with respect that we would scorn to sup-
port or advance our religion at any other than our own expense.
But we are unwilling to pay taxes for the purpose of destroying our
religion in the minds of our children. This points out the sole
difference between what we seek and what some narrow-minded or
misinformed journals have accused us of seeking.
If the public schools could have been constituted on a principle
which would have secured a perfect neutrality of influence on the
subject of religion, then we should have no reason to complain. But
this has not been done, and we respectfully submit that it is impos-
sible. The cold indifference with which it is required that all relig-
ion shall be treated in those schools — the Scriptures without note or
comment — the selection of passages, as reading lessons, from Prot-
estants and prejudiced authors, on points in which our creed is sup-
posed to be involved — the comments of the teacher, of which the
Commissioners cannot be cognizant — the school libraries, stuffed
with sectarian works against us — form against our religion a combi-
nation of influences prejudicial to our religion, and to whose action
it would be criminal in us to expose our children at such an age.
Such, fellow- citizens, is a statement of the reasons of our opposi-
tion to the public schools, and the unjust and unequal grievances of
which we complain.
You can judge of our rights by your own. You cannot be ex-
pected to know our religion ; many of you have, no doubt, strong
prejudices against it, which we are fain to ascribe precisely to the
circumstance of your not having had an opportunity to know it.
But notwithstanding your prejudices, and your disapproval of our
faith, we have confidence in your high principles of justice, under
the sanction of our common constitution, which secures equal re-
ligious and civil rights to all. Put yourselves in our situation, and
say whether it is just, or equal, or constitutional, that whereas we
are contributors to the public fund, we shall be excluded from our
share of benefit in their expenditure, unless wo submit to the arbi-
trary and irreligious conditions of the Common Council, and thereby
violate our rights of conscience ?
Our religion is dear to us ; for in the hearts of many of us it is
connected with the history of our fathers' sufferings, and our own.
64 AECHBISHOP HTJGHES.
Education is dear to us, for the tyrants who wished to enslave our
ancestors and us, made it felony for the schoolmaster to come among
us, unless he were the avowed enemy of our creed.
We seek for nothing but what we conceive to be our nghts,_and
which can be granted without violating or abridging the prmciples
of any other denomination or individual bi-eathing. They may be
refused as they have been. If they should, neithershall we yet suf-
fer our children to receive the anti-religious education of the public
schools, nor shall we kiss the hand that fixes a blot on the Constitu-
tion by oppressively denying our just claims.
What do we contend for ? Simply that our children shall be
educated apart from these influences. We contend eoe liberty
OF conscience and FEEEDOir OE EDUCATION. We hold that the
laws of nature, of religion, and the very Constitution of the coun-
try, secure to parents the right of superintending the education of
their own children.
This right we contend for, but we have hitherto been obliged to
exercise it under the unjust disadvantages of double taxation. If
the State, considering our children as its own, grants -money for their
education, are we not entitled to our portion of it, when we perform
the services which are required.
It appears not, according to the decisions of the Common Council,
unless we send our children to schools in which our religious rights
are to be violated, and our offspring qualified to pass over to the
thickening ranks of infidelity. This shall not be ; much as we dread
ignorance, "we dread this much more.
If justice were done us, we could increase the number of our
teachers to a proportion corresponding with the number of children.
We could improve our means of teaching; we could bring our
children out of the damp basements of our Churches into the pure
air of better localities. In a word, give us our just proportion of
the Common School Fund, and if we do not give as good an educa-
tion, apart from religious insiruction, as is given in the public schools,
to one third a larger number of children for the same money, we are
willing to renounce our just claim. Let the proper authorities ap-
point any test of improvement that shall be general, and we shall
abide by it. Neither do we desire that any children shall attend
our schools, except those of our own communion ; although so far
as we are concerned they shall be open to all.
t\ In a country like this it is the interest of all to protect the guar-
anteed rights o^ each. Should the professors of some weak or un-
popular religion be oppressed to-day, the experiment may be repeated
En-morrow on some other. Every successful attempt in that way
-will embolden the spirit of encroachment, and diminish the power
of resistance ; and in such an event the monopolizers of education,
after having discharged the office of public tutor, may find it con-
venient 1o assume that of public preacher. The transition will not
be found difficult or unnatural from the idea of a common school, to
that of a common religion, froKi which, of course, in order to make
THE SCHOOL QtESTION. 65
it populai', all_ Christian sectarianism will be carefully excluded.
Resist the begipnings, is a wise maxim in the preservation of rights.
Should the American people ever stand by and tolerate the open
and authoritative violation of their Magna Charta, then the Republic
will have seen the end of its days of glory.
The friends of liberty throughout the civilized world will fold their
hands in grief and despair. The tyrants of the earth will point to
the flag which your fathers planted, and cry, Ha ! ha ! The nations
from afar will gaze upon it, and behold with astonishment its bright
stars faded and its stripes turned into scorpions.
After reading the address, the Right Rev. Prelate said, as he had
had some connection with the drawing up of the address, it might
be proper that he should mention some of the circumstances au^
thorizing the language adopted in it. An idea appeared to prevail
that because the schools to which a desire was manifested to compel
them, as it were, to send their children, were called " public schools,"
they belonged to everybody. Now they spoke of a " public square "
as of something that was public ; and, in ordinary phraseology,
" public schools " would be schools belonging to the State ; but, if
they conceived that idea of the public schools in question, they
were mistaken. What belonged to the State belonged to the people
of the State, and what belonged to the city belonged to the people
of the city ; but here these schools belonged to a private incorpo-
rated Society, and from the commencement they had changed their
character as much as it was possible for them to change. For what
purpose does the first charter of this incorporated Public School
Society purport to have been given ? They had read the language
of the report drawn up by the Common Council, in which it was
stated that anything sectarian or religious in the instruction given
in a school was a disqualification, and cut off that school from all
participation in the Common School Fund ; but this was not the lan-
guage of the charter by which the Public School Society was incor-
porated ; for in that it was recited that it was given for the educa-
tion of children belonging to no known denomination, and for im-
planting in their minds the principles oi religion and morality. There
was no dread of sectarianism then. From that time this Public
School Society, thus incorporated, passed on, step by step, enlarging
their powers, and becoming favorites with the State and City author-
ities, until this private incorporation took charge of the children —
not of no known denomination, that they might be taught religion
and morality, but of all classes, and upon a principle that operated
to exclude religion altogether. It was not then without authority
that the language of the address was so strong on this matter. The
Common Council held the doctrine that the schools to be common-
schools, should be open to all, and that those branches of education,
and those only, should be taught which tend to fit youth for the
ordinary occupations of life. They strip it of all religion, because
religion has reference to a future state ; and to make the system
5
66 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
common, they profess to provide for the education of Mohammed-
ans and Jews, without violating religious belief. Well, but Cath
olios, as has been repeatedly and abundantly shown, could not send
their children to those schools without violating their religious be-
lief, and he thought they ought to have the privilege that was so
bountifully provided for the Mohammedan. [Applause.] _ But not-
withstanding the professions made, this system, sofuU is it of incon-
sistency as well as mischief, did not exclude religious teaching, for
the Scriptures were read, and that was one form of religion, and
many people thought it suflScient for all purposes. But all the
teaching the State had in view, according to the construction of the
Common Council, was confined to what would make man useful in
this life ; that is, make him an intellectual and mechanical machine.
Now he did not understand that a man would not be equally well
qualified to become a good mechanic, if he understood the Christian
religion, or that to blend religion with his secular knowledge would
disqualify him for usefulness in this life. [Applause.] Oh! but
only get him to read Mr. Hume's chapter, entitled the " Execution of
Cranmer," Dr. Robertson's " Character of Martin Luther,^'' the little
innocent story of " Phelim Maghee," and the " Irish Heart," and
then he would make an excellent mechanic. [Laughter.] He had
made these few observations merely to show that these schools did
not belong to the public, in the common sense of the term, but to
a private corporation which had received a vast deal of the public
money, and still continued to receive it, while they who contributed
that money were deprived of the benefits which the State intended
it should confer, and -they, in consequence, were obliged again to
contribute to the education of their children in another form.
[Great applause. [
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes counseled them, while they
joined to obtain their just demands in reference to this Common
School System, to be good citizens in all the relations of life, and to
be kind and charitable in the world, and thereby throw suspicion
on the minds of even their enemies of the truth of the ridiculous and
absurd tales told of them in the books which were now read in the
Public Schools; but in the mean time let them withdraw their
children from their bad influence. [Great applause.]
Meeting in the Basement of St. James' Church, August
24, 1840.
Pursuant to adjournment, another crowded meeting of Catholics
was held m the basement of St. James' Church, James street, on
the evemng of Monday, August 24, on the subject of their claim to
a portion of the Common School Fund for the education of their
children, Mr. Gregory Dillon was called to the chair and the
THK SCHOOL QUESTION. 6^
secretaries of previous meetings -were re-elected. The minutes of
the last meeting having been read and approved,
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes came forward to address the
meeting, and was most enthusiastically received. He commenced
by observing that it might not be unadvisable to remind the meet-
ing, which consisted of persons deeply interested in the question
before them, of the true principles which the question involved, of
the extent to which their claim reached, and of the limit by which it
was and ought to be bounded, for they appeared to be peculiarly
imfortunate in making themselves understood when they come be-
fore the public to vindicate even one of the simplest rights belong-
ing to the citizens of this country ; they were peculiarly unfortunate
in having their motives misrepresented and their intentions not
charitably construed. This, however, was greatly less the case at
the present time than heretofore ; nevertheless, even now there had
been published in newspapers of this city, statements of circum-
stances in regard to their proceedings which had never occurred, to
his knowledge, and to which the meeting would also find themselves
strangers. [Applausef.] Certainly, they were not of much import-
ance ; but as there was much credulity abroad, and as everything
which went forth to their disparagement from their opponents could
not be contradicted in writing, for which few of them could find the
time, it became necessary, on an occasion like the present, to avail
themselves of the opportunity to give utterance to their disavowal.
[Applause.]
In the Journal of Commerce of that morning there was a writer
■who acknowledged himself to be a teacher in a public school, and
that gentleman appeared to be highly offended with them for lan-
guage and proceedings which he attributed to them in the progress
of that work. Now many of those then present had heard him (the
Right Rev. Prelate) and others speak there from the first hour to
the present, and they had not heard one uncharitable, one unkind,
one disrespectful word respecting the character or the moti^■es of
any person connected with the Common School System. They had
made and did make a broad distinction between the system of
Common School education, in connection with its necessary results,
and the private characters of the parties who administered it, and
the standing of those who were its special protectors. This gentle-
man said that they (the Catholics) say in amount that the persons
connected jyith the Common School System are all infidels. But
who over said such a thing ? Did they ever say that infidelity was
taught in those schools ? Never ; but they did say that the con-
ductors of the Comii^on Schools profess to exclude everything secta-
rian, and that this they could not do if they would ; and should not,
if they could ; for if they did, there would be the absence of every-
thing like Christianity, and there would consequently be nothing
remaining but what they (the Catholics) call infideUty. Those
schools would teach children the mathematics, but not a word about
God; and what would that be but practical infidelity? What
68 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
would be ttuir creed but that wMch inows not God? Now this
they believed would be the result of the system, though not the
intention of its managers. They (the Catholics) would respect their
intentions, though they knew them not ; and they therefore could
only meet them on the ground which they had themselves chosen to
occupy, judge of them by their own professions and by the docu-
ments which they had given to the world, and on a comparison with
the results which were unavoidable ; then say whether the Public
School System, if it could have any influence, was not hostile to
Christianity, and, consequently, infidel. [Applause.] He did not
pretend to say that this was intended, but that it would be the re-
sult. He did not say that the boys, because they attended those
schools, would necessarily become infidels ; but if not, no thanks to
that school system, but to the teaching of the parents at home ; to
the knowledge, and piety and anxious solicitude of parents, and to
their pastors too [applause]— for which the system was entitled to
no credit. [Renewed applause.]
But there were other remarks made by the Churchman. Now
that was the paper of a very respectable denomination — the Epis-
copal— and it did not quarrel with the arguments ; it did not dis-
pute the grounds on which their claim was based, but, half sidling
for and half sidling against them, it concluded by observing that
it was not so much surprised at the nature of the claim itself as at
the boldness with which it was put forward. [Laughter.] He should
like to know if, in this country, this Churchman would like to see,
or expected, that they would creep when they came to demand a
right ; or whether in a country and under a Constitution which
treated all men as equal, and respected all men alike, they should
not stand straight vp and say what they wanted — ^their claim being
couched in respectful language, which should not entitle it to the
charge of " boldness." [Applause.] But there had been nothing in
their proceedings to justify the charge of boldness ; there had been
no presumption ; and this the Churchman ought to know. In the
United States, Catholics are not obliged to recognize " Canterbury
high. Sir." [Great applause.]
Having made these remarks, he would call the attention of the
meeting to another subject. When the application was made to
the Common Council, it appeared by the case, as submitted to the
public, that the Common Council sat as jurors, that the Catholics
appeared as opposed to the Common School Society, and stated that
they could not in their consciences send their children to these
schools, and that advocates, as representatives of the Public School
Society, appeared to oppose them, and determined that Catholics
could in their consciences send their children to them. Now he (the
Bishop) understood that, in this country, one man had not the right
to say what, in conscience, anbther man could do ; and if he did so,
that it was an assumption of a prerogative that was not his. Those
advocates, too, set forth a statement iu contradiction of those made
by the Catholics, and of some which they had not advanced, in
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 69
wliieh they asserted that there was nothing in their books which
Catliolios might not permit their children to read, that there was
nothing in them hostile to the Catholic religion, nor anything that
could prejudice against it the minds of Catholic children. Yet had
they not heard chapter after chapter, and page after page, which
they would not allow their children to read ? Had they not heard
the chapter by Mr. Hume, on the Execution of Cranmer ; and the
Character of Martin Litther, by Dr. Robertson ; and other chapters
from Presbyterian clergymen ; and on subjects too which deeply
involved their religious faith, and which they could not conscien-
tiously and religiously allow their children to read ? [Applause.] ,
Now, with their permission, he would draw their attention to some
passages in the report of the committee of the Common Council ; he
would merely allude to .some few principal points, for it was too
long to be read at length. They set forth that Catholics made such
and such objections to the existing system, and that they were con-
tradicted by the Superintendents of the Public Schools ; and then
they came to what they regarded as the vital part of the question.
They say as follows: "The questions to which the committee have
directed their attention are as follows : First, Have the Common
Council of this oity, under the existing laws relative to common
schools in the city of New York, a legal right to appropriate any
portion of the school fund to religious corporations ?" Now, with
great deference, he did not conceive that that was the case at all.
He should like to know from the venerable chairman of their pre-
vious meetings, whether he and those who accompanied him went
to the Common Council to ask for money for a religious corpora-
tion ? That was not the question, he (the Bishop) contended posi-
tively ; but this and this only was the question which that com
mittee should have asked themselves : whether the Common Council,
under a law of the State, should impose a tax on the people, and
not allow them the equivalent intended by law for which it was
imposed, in return. That was the true question [applause] ; and
he declared to the nieeting that if any person had asked for money,
in the name of Catholics, for " a religious coi'poration," he would
have been the first to refuse it. They wanted no money for reli-
gious corporations. Their religion they wished to support, and
they wished all other men to have the same privilege, by their own
free choice^ and in no other way. [Applause.]
The next question which the committee ask — and it is as a corol-
lary of the other — is, "Would the exercise of such power be in
accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and the nature of our
government ?" Now, what child would not be able to make an
argument on that ? Why that was an incorrect issue, and was not
the question at all. The real question was this : " Have, any por-
tion of the citizens of this State been subject to a law which compels
them to pay a tax, and have the benefits, for which it was intended,
been so returned to them that their religious consciences would be
violated in their acceptance ?" [Applause.] That is the question.
to AECHBISHOP HrGHES.
The committee could have no difficulty in proving that " religious
corporations " "were not the proper recipients. True, the trustees
of the Catholic churches might be considered as the citizens of that
communion, but he disclaimed the application to the _ Common
Council on other grounds than as American citizens claiming the
rights of conscience and the liberty to educate their own children.
Religion was entirely a private matter. If the conductors of the
public schools would see that our children were educated vmder the
Public School System and discipline— whether Lancasterian or other-
wise— they (the Catholics) cared nothing about it ; but they wanted
their children, without injury to conscience, to have their share of
ihe benefits from taxes which they had contributed. Now, of all
things calculated to spoil the merits of a question, an incorrect
Btatement of it had the most power to do so. If the state of the
question as to its real issue were erroneous, they could not arrive at
just conclusions ; and if the issue were false, all arguments in its
support would fall to the ground. But these gentlemen, in their
report to the Common Council, with wonderful energy, had almost
proved that it would be a union of Church and State; and so it
would, if what they stated were correct. While the advocates of
the Public School Society were asserting that there was nothing in
the books to which Catholics could object, he would appeal to the
meeting whether they had not seen page after page which showed
clearly the evils that would result from such a system. [Applause.]
But the gentlemen go on to show in that committee's report the
history and the progress of the question, and what the law was.
He (the Bishop) should not go through the whole facts with them,
nor into the inquiry whether a certain Baptist church was guilty
of peculation ; he should confine himself to the evils of this system,
and to the inquiry whether Catholics got their rights, and by and
by he Vv-ould show them some further extracts from the books, and
show that the managers of the Public Schools could not, or at least
should not, but know that the books contained passages reflecting
on the Catholic religion, and consequently that they were unfit to
put into the hands of their children. After setting forth the evils
of sectarianism, they proceed in their report to say : " To prevent,
in our day and country, the recurrence of scenes so abhorrent to
every principle of justice, humanity, and right, the Constitution of
the United States and of the several States have declared, in some
form or other, that there should be no establishment of religion by
law." Precisely what we wish. "That the affairs of the State
should be kept entirely distinct from, and unconnected with, those
of the church; that every human being should worship God ac-
cording to the dictates of his own conscience ;" and yet they will -
not allow us to do so ; " that all churches and religions should be
supported by voluntary contribution ; and that no tax should ever
be imposed for the benefit of any denomination of religion, for any
cause or under any pretence whatever." Just as if you wanted the
Common Council to pay your church dues or pew rent. [Laughter.]
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. ^J
Now Catholics did not want this money for their own benefit, but
for the benefit of those to whom the law appropriated it, and with-
out violating the rights of conscience, which they "were told the
Constitution secured to them. They then passed on to the observ-
ation, that " An appropriation of any portion of that sura to the
support of schools, in which the religious tenets of any sect are taught
to any extent, would be a legal establishment of one denomination
of religion over another." Now let them not be misunderstood.
Catholics did not wish to teach religion in those schools ; but when
they taught their children to read, instead' of giving them, as a
reading I'esson, Hume's chapter on the " JExecuiion of Cranmer"
they thought they could give them a better chapter out of Lingard,
respecting the struggle of the English barons and bishops on the
one hand, and the English king on the other, when the great char-
ter of liberty was secured. That would be a better lesson, too, than
Dr. Robertson's Life of Luther. Arid here, again, they were told,
after the observation about the " legal establishment of one denomi-
nation of religion over the other," that this " would conflict with all
the principles and purposes of our free institutions, and would vio-
late the very letter of that part of our Constitution which so emphat-
ically declares that ' the free exercise and enjoyment of religious
profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall for
ever be allowed, in this State, to all mankind.' " Why, here again
the committee were laboring with a phantom of their own inven-
tion, unless the gentlemen who waited upon the Council asked for
money to help the Church.
Mr'. O'CoNNOE. No, sir, I believe not.
The Bishop. Then it was the working of their own imagination,
and with all respect for these gentlemen, for they quote the law
fairly ; but when they supposed the law, as quoted, applied to them
(the Catholics), they reversed the position of the Catholics. Finally,
" In this opinion your committee hope the Board, the petitioners,
and the public will concur ;" that is, when they say it ought not to
be given. " The question is one of that character which appeals to
the liveliest feelings of our nature, and one which is too apt to create
excitement and jealousy." Not if it was properly understood and
fairly discussed ; for he believed the public mind in this country,
at least, the high and generous portion of it, would not allow any
man's civil or religious rights to be encroached upon without any
pretext whatever. " They conclude by expressing the hope that
the petitioners, tipon a full examination of the question, will pei-ceive
that the granting of their petition would be at least of doubtful
legality, foreign to the design of the School Fund, and at variance
with the spirit of our public institutions." Then it followed that
the support of a public institution required that their consciences
and their freedom should be violated. . And who would contend for
that?
In the commencement he had stated that it appeared the repre-
sentatives of the public schools had contradicted the statement of
72 AECIIBISHOP HUGHES.
Catholics, that their boots contained lessons that reflected on Catho-
lics. Now they had read several passages at pre\'ious meetings, of
which they were all able to judge ; but he would take one or two
other bri(ff passages, and he should like to see whether those gentle-
men would again stand before the Common Council and say that
the books contained nothing against Catholics. In " Putnam's Se-
quel," page 296 of the Appendix, they had a note on Luther, which
said, " Luther, the great reformer, was, at first, a Benedictine monk."
Now, he was not, for -he was an Augustinian. [Laughter.] "He
Hved to ward the close of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteen1,h
centuries. The cause of learning, of religion, and of civil liberty, is
indebted to him more than to any other man since the apostles."
Well that was a matter of opinion ; but at all events there should be
excepted Erasmus, who was a scholar, though a priest like himself.
He was first led away, though he never doubted the Catholic faith,
by popular abuses, which he thought could be removed ; but he was
devoted to literature, and he deplored the Reformation precisely on
the ground that it would throw back the progress of literature a
hundred j'ears. Here letters were reviving, men were devoting
themselves to the study of antiquity, and here, he complained, there
was nothing but broils and polemical disputations, and literature
was neglected. Whether Luther was such a friend to literature, he
(the Bishop) knew not. But here was another passage, on " John
Huss," of whom it said, " John Huss, a zealous reformer from
Popery, who lived in Bohemia towards the close of the fourteenth,
and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries. He was bold and per-
severing ; but, at length, trusting himself to the deceitful Catholics,
he was by them brought to trial, condemned as a heretic, and burnt
at the stake." Now these are lessons for the instruction of your
children, and yet gentlemen go to the Common Council and tell
them these books contain nothing against Catholics. Now, besides
the injury done to their children, let him observe that he did not
conceive, even if Catholic children were separated from those schools,
while they were supported at the public expense, that passages like
these, which were calculated to fix a settled prejudice in the mind
of one class of fellow-citizens against another, were in accordance
with the spirit of their constitution, or those high and holy principles
which religion taught them ; nor could they be of advantage in an
enlightened system of public education. Give to Catholics their
proportion of this fund, and they might search their books from one'
end to the other, and however much they might insist on the truth
of their own religion, there would not be found a single passage
calculated to implant in the minds of their children a single con-
temptuous thought of any man or body of men in the United'States.
But he was surprised that the Public School Society, because they
taught no doctrine from any specific text, while they introduced
page after page such as he had read, should appear before the public
authoi-ities and claim the money which Catholics conceived to bo
due to them, and deprive them of their rights secured to them by
THE SCHOOL ■QUESTION'. 73
law, on the ground that there was nothing sectarian in their books.
And he was equally surprised that the gentlemen should feel hurt
at that which they ascribed to the system, and not to the men con-
nected with it, though they had said that Catholics could send their
children to these schools without any riolation of conscience — that
there was nothing' that could possibly give oifence — and he would
ask them how this could be reconciled with the specimens he had
quoted. But there was another ground. He was surprised that
that Society should think it was their interest to compel all children
learning to read, to learn undev their exclusive patronage. He
thought the intention of the State was that every child in the Com-
monwealth should be educated, and not that his religious rights
and his conscience or those of his parents should be violated. He
would concede to the Public School System, with all due respect,
and nothing more, that which it was entitled to; but that Society
thought it was exclusively entitled to not only what was appropri-
ated to it, but also to hinder Catholics from obtaining their rights,
which was sacred and indisputable. And why was it he felt so sur-
prised ? It was this ; this Public School Society was not at any
time from its orign the representative of the State, but merely a
private corporation ; its trustees were not elected by the voice of
the people ; but they were a society composed of members who
were qualified by contribution, or otherwise became members by
election within their own body. [Hear, hear.] Before they ex-
isted as a society, provision was made for the education of the chil-
dren, and there was no turmoil, there was no civil war ; there were
none of the terrible consequences and evils which appeared now to
be anticipated if the claim of the Catholics should be conceded.
Then education was amply pro^ ided ; each school had its own chil-
dren ; each party took care of its own rights, which they thought
sacred, and evei-ything went on in perfect harmony and for the good
of the whole. And wh«n this Public School Society was formed,,
it was formed with a laudable pui-pose, with a name at its head which
shone among the brightest on the page of American history — De
Witt Clinton. [Applause.] The gentlemen forming that society
saw a number of surplus neglected children apparently with no one
to take care of them, and they proposed to take care of the chilflren
for Avhom nobody cared before. Their object was pure, and be-
nevolent, and patriotic ; and accordingly in the very first charter of
this society, which however has since repeatedly changed its name,
the object was stated to be — ■'■'■ the education of the children of per-
sons in indigent circumstances, and who do not belong to, or are
not provided for, by any religious society." In that charter there
was nothing said about excluding sectarianism: nothing of the sort;
but when they go before the Legislature, they go before a Christian
legislature, and no doubt they were Christians themselves and men
of good motive. After the first paragraph in their act of incorpora-
tion, the second begins — " And whereas the said persons have pre-
sented a petition to the Legislature settuig forth the benefits Avhich
^4 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
woiild result to society from the education of such children, h^^
planting in their minds the principles of religion and morality, and by
assisting theii- parents to provide suitable situations for them, where
habits of industry and virtue may be acquired, and that it would
enable them more effectually to accomplish the benevolent objects of
their institution, if the association were incorporated." And this
ime Society which was originally instituted to implant in the minds
jf children " the principles of religion and morality," now came out
against Catholics and said, if they gave children such instruction
they were not entitled to any beAefit from the Public School Fund
[hear, hear], and they have not only said so, but from the period
of the misapplication of the funds by one society being detected, the
part which related to religious societies before, was altered by law.
Until that time, every society had the right to go before the Corpo-
ration an(J demand its share ; but from that time they were deprived
of the right to demand it, but a discretion was given to the Common
Council ; as though the Legislature had said, " here is abuse ; if it is
connected with that system let it be abolished ; but we leave the
Common Council of New York to determine what schools shall be
entitled to the money;" and after that arrangement between the
Legislature and the Common Council, they each (Christian denomi-
nation) apparently gave up to the system, and so it had gone on.
But up to this time other societies had been receiving the money,
and there was nothing in their institutions or schools to disqualify
them ; for they would observe that they were called either " insti-
tutions or schools," and either were proper for 'the exercise of the
discretion of the Common Council ; but while the Common Council
would exercise this discretion, behold these gentlemen, who were
originally incorporated for the giving of religious instruction and
implanting of moral principles, step between Catholics and the Cor-
poration and say, " No ; because you teach your children religion
you are not entitled to it." Now it was a matter of discretion with
the Common Council ; there was certainly not a single provision
that stood in the way of such a just and fair interpretation ; and
when the obstacles already alluded to were put in the way, they (the
Public School Society) were receiving their portion for the same
purpose. And after all what was this incorporation but a private
incorporation like any other; not one certainly to dictate to the
whole of New York. It was instituted for a specific purpose, useful
and honorable in itself; and he had no doubt that those gentlemen's
best wishes were for the extension of their system of education ;
but they ought not to force it on Catholics ; it was not modest in
them to do so, nor to send advocates to the Common Council to
plead against the rights of Catholics when they were but a private
corporation themselves. If they had represented the whole State
and had obtained a "patent-general" he should have respected them
and their opposition ; but their act of incorporation was private, and
they had never been able to raise it to more than that. But he
would show a little of its history by an abstract of its several acts
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 15
of incorporation. Originally, it seemed, it was the smallest of all,
but like Pharaoh's lean kine, it had eaten up all the rest. In 1805
it was incorporated by the name of "A Society instituted in the
city of 'New York for the establishment of a Free School, for the
education of poor children, who do not belong to, or are not pro-
vided for by any religious society." In IgOS its power was extended
to on?/ poor or destitute children, and its name was changed to that
of " The Free School Society of Few York." Here in three years after
its origin was the first extension of its powers, though there were
several intermediate acts swelling its privileges. The enactment
was in these words : " The name of the said corporation shall be, and
hereby is, changed, and that it shall in future be denominated, ' The
Free School Society of Few York,' and that its powers shall extend
to all children, who are proper objects of a gratuitous education.' "
Now there was something worthy of notice in the last name as-
sumed, that of " Public Schools," with which they were authorized
by another act of the Legislature of 1826, to label these schools,
" Public School Society of Few York !" as though they belonged to
the State, whereas the schools belonged but to the Society itself, ac-
cording to their charter. It was to be observed that this Society
claimed; and he did not pretend to deny their claim to, patriotic in-
tentions and good motives, but if their good intentions conflicted
with the rights of Catholics it could not be expected that Catholics
would submit to their good " intentions." Thus this Society had
gone on, and it had received aid to erect its public schools, and in
another act they were authorized to receive payment from the parents
of scholars, and yet were not to be deprived on that account of a
corresponding portion of the public fund ; so that they could receive
pay from the parent and yet count the child in the number of those
for whom they received payment from the State. Fo doubt they
wished the poor to attend those schools : the schools were intended
for all, but jsrincipaliy for the poor, whose parents were not able to
give them a good education ; but they were now attended by the
children of such respectable citizens that the children of the poor, in
their mean robes and unseemly garments, were often ashamed to
appear in such genteel company. Well, then those. schools received
certain specific ajipropriations, they then might receive payment
from the parents of children attending and did recei\'e from the
State for the same children ; and yet they came in and interposed
between Catholics and this money which they wanted for the educa-
tion of their own poor children who could not be educated at those
schools without violating the- sacred rights of American citizens.
[Applause.] It was unnecessary for him to enlarge much further.
He had no want of respect for .the Public School Society, but it was
vain in them to say that Catholics impeached their motives, or that
when Catholics objected to the system they objected to ikem per-
sonally. Catholics could not certainly recognizfe in them the power
of the State ; and with such documents and books as those he had
refcrrelto they could not submit to the system notwithstanding
10 ARCHBISHOP nUGHES.
the Public School Society could see nothing in it objectionable to
Catholics. The question was a simiDle one and did not require much
deep investigation of .facts to determine what should be the issue.
Enough was seen before this discussion commenced in the sacrifices
of the poor Catholics — for they were comparatively poor — to make
room under their churches for the education of their children (while
they were paying taxes like other citizens) apart from the instruc-
tion which taught them of the " deceitful Catholics" who burnt per-
sons at the stake. This proved that it was no affectation on the
part of Catholics, but that their consciences prompted them to make
sacrifices to multiply schools — to take into their own hands the
burden of giving an education to children, imperfect as it must be,
with their means, to 3,000, 4,000, or 8,000 childi-en at a double ex-
pense. For they first paid to the State, but seeing the advantages
come back so diluted, they paid a second time to secure education
without insult to their religious faith. It was conscience then and
not affectation which prompted them to do this, and whatever might
be the result with the proper authorities one thing was certain, that
with those schools, so constituted. Catholics could have no commu-
nion. [Applause.] If, according to the spirit of legislation on this
subject, their proportion of this money was set apart in amanner
that Catholics could avail themselves of it, they would accept it with
gratitude : if they would give them a place to educate their children
in, or if they would ev^ n organize their schools, they should be satis-
fied. To the system, that is, the machinery of the system of educa-
tion. Catholics did not object; and they should, give proof that they
wished no opportunity to peculate, nor should be>guilty if they had,
of peculation of \hese funds. Let them give to Catholics their own
books, and they would be content if the minds of their children were
not poisoned against the faith of their fathers, for which for a^-es
those fathers had been ready to die, [Applause.] If this were done
Catholics would be grateful, but in their gratitude they should tell
those gentlemen that it was notliing more than that to which they
were entitled. [Ileai-, hear.] But if this should be i-efused, they would
but be still as they are at present ; and many of them were not
strangers to inequality and oppression which would strive to make
them less than their fellow-citizens. But let it come to this that
either they would have the benefit of education according to their '
religious convictions, or that those refusing it should say, " you shall
not, and for no other reason but because you are Catholics." That
should be the ultimate issue ; let the question be reduced down to
that ; and if the day was at hand v,±en the public authorities of
America would offer such violence to conscience, and debar them
of their rights as citizens, then they might despair of the Kepnblic
But he had no apprehensions of that'kind. As he had said before'
se\eral tunes, whatever might be the misconception or the want of
infonnaliou or wroiig information or prejudice on the subject-
making allowance for all this— there was running through the pubhc
mind a vein,- a rich \ein of public equity which would not allow the
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 77
Caf.holics thus to be deprived of their rights. [Applause.] But
still he was not surprised at the misrepresentations of the Joxirnal of
Covimerae and of the Churchman, or any other paper. It was sur-
prising that there was not more misrepresentation, when they con-
sidered the way their fellow-citizens were taught, and when they
reflected that they were brought up at the same literary table where
they imbibed with their aliment a prejudice which an acquaintance
with Catholics for life, of men honorable and high minded, was
scarcely able to destroy. What remained for them was simply to
persevere — -with moderation and dignity, but with a firmness wor-
thy of their standing in the American community — persevering with
great moderation, but at the same time with great dignity and great
firmness, narrowing the question down until the tvs'o issues he had
mentioned presented themselves alone, and they obtained that of
which hitherto they had been denied. [Applause.] Yes, this was
the course that was left for them. He himself had no objection if
the whole Public School Society were there to hear all he had to
say ; for in all he had said in ' either pubhc or private, as far as he
remembered, he always separated men from things — he always sep-
arated the men connected with this school system from that which
was the legitimate subject of criticism. He had therefore separated
the public school and the teachers, but when they sent books of this
description, and when Catholics contended for their rights on Chris-
tian principles, they were told there was no cause of complaint,
justice required that they should animadvert on the subject so far
as was necessary to vindicate themselves, but no further. He knew
that was not the place to enter upon the truth or falsehood of the
lesson on " John Huss." They knew the crime for which he suf-
fered; it had been on the statute books for more than six hundred
years, as far back as Justinian even. It was a barbarous, a cruel
punishment ; but if so, the gentlemen should have known that it was
not Catholics that inflicted it but the law of the empire to which he
was subject. He might mention that he had the opportimity once
to meet a Protestant gentleman in an assembly as large as this ; that
when he pressed him for proof he had none to give : and when he
went further and brought the case of John Huss, not from a Cath-
olic but from a Presbyterian writer who wrote the history of the
Council of Constance, the Catholics were acquitted and the Emperor
alone was implicated, because it was- believed he betrayed Huss, to
whom it ^^-as supposed he had given a free pass. But L'Enfant tells
us that before Huss went to the Council the Emperor told him if
the Council pronounced hi? doctrines heresy, and he did not retract,
he must sufier the penalty of the law, and he (the Emperor) would
be the first to aj)ply the torch. But they might as well attempt to
run the stream of Niagara back as to tell this. This was shown,
however, in the presence of a Presbyterian clergyman. It was
printed and published in the report of that discussion, and to the
present time he lias had not one word to say on the subject. He
repeated,' this wa-s not the place to bring up things of this kind, but
78 AECHBISHOP IIIJGHES.
what must be his feelings when he saw such things in these school
books, and this barbing of the arrow against the Cathohc rehgion,
when he knew they were not true. Even if true they should not be
put into the hands of children ; nor should Catholics if they taiight
their own children let them read as a lesson a chapter on the burn-
ing of Michael Servetus by Calvin. If these things were true they
should not be admitted, for it was not right to prejudice one class
against another. But when they saw these things in the books of
the public schools it was not surprising that they spoke with empha-
sis, or, as the Churchman has it, that they should be a little bold.
[Great applause.]
Mr. Mullen rose and said : " Mr. Chairman, I move a vote of
thanks to the Editor of the Freeman's Journal for the trouble he has
gone to, and expense he has incurred, in publishing an '■'•Exlrar >iOTL-
taining the Address, and for the uniform interest he has taken in this
cause from the commencement." A gentleman, who sat in front of
the Bishop, said that if a vote of thanks was passed, it was first due
to the Bishop for his untiring exertions.
The Bishop rose and said : " I will offer a simple observation on
this subject; certainly, Mv. White, the Editor of the i^reeman's Jour-
nal, is entitled to a vote of thanks, and I think it worthy of the gen-
tleman who has proposed it; but at the same time there are so many
who may be entitled to the same distinction, in one form or another,
that perhaps it might be thought a little invidious if one should be
selected and another not. I am sure Mr. White will feel highly
rewarded by the consciousness that he has been at all instrumental
in helping the cause forward, and at a later period, when we have
approached nearer to the accomplishment of our wishes, the opportu-
nity may present itself for such compliments. But at the same time,
while I acknowledge the kindness and the propriety of feeling
which dictated it, at this moment I think it would be better to
omit it. Mr. White, you know, is a Catholic like ourselves and feels
the interest that we all feel,, and if you commence this, the first vote
will perhaps be due to the Editor of a daily paper in this city who is
not a Catholic, but who has had the spirit and sense of justice to
come out in our favor. [Applause.] But even in this case I should
not be for moving a vote of thanks, for I am sure he was actuated
by a sense of public duty, and in that consciousness he will feel his
reward. We should not be tmgrateful, but for the present I would
suggest the propriety of withdrawing the motion."
Mr. Mullen. Mr. White has gone to great expense in publishing
an Extra and has ably advocated our cause, for which he is entitled to
our thanks ; but I consent to withdraw the motion. [Applause.]
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. Y9
LETTER OF BISHOP HUGHES TO THE
EVENING- POST.
The following letter of the Right Reverend Bishop Hughes was
written in answer to an anonymous communication addressed to
him, which appeared it the Evening Post, signed "An Irish Catholic,"
slandering the motives of the Catholics, and charging the Bishop
with being the dupe of one of the political parties of the day :
Me. EDiTOEi.Your correspondent who signs himself "An Irish
Catholic;" and dedicates his homily to me by name, must be a very
inconsistent man. He must know that thousands of the children
of poor Catholic parents are growing up without education, simply
.because the law as interpreted and administrated under the Public
School Society, requires a violation of their rights of conscience.
The number of such children may be from nine to twelve thousand.
Of these the Catholics, by bearing a double taxation, educate four
or five thousand ; a few hundred have attended the Public Schools ;
and the rest may be considered as receiving only such education as
is afforded in the streets of New York.
Now I should think that an "Irish Catholic" should see in this
state of things quite enough to excite my pastoral solicitude for
the spiritual and moral condition of the people committed to my
charge. In the part which I have taken in the matter, I am only
discharging a conscientious duty.
But it appears that your correspondent understands my duty
better than I do, and that I am only the well-meaning dvpe of a
"Whig club in disguise," notwithstanding the "great abilities"
which he is pleased to ascribe to me. When I returned to this
city, I found the Catholics broken up and divided, thanks to the in-
terference of such men as your correspondent. Now, happily, that
the question has been relieved from all the dead weight of poli«
ticians of either side, they are united. We exclude politics from
our deliberations, as carefully as religion is excluded from the Public
Schools. We are composed of all parties in politics ; but as the
topic is never introduced nor alluded to, there is no occasion for
disagreement. We meet to understand the injuries which we ai'e
compelled to suffer, and to seek for their removal. Among the
sufferers are men of both parties — among those who would perpetu-
ate the injuries, are men of both parties — and our object is to seek
justice from just and upright men, who will comprehend our griev-
ances, without distinction of party.
80 AECHBISHOP nUGIIES.
But it appears that the Catholics are to rest satisfied with what-
ever injustice may be inflicted on them, lest their complaining
should be construed into a "political purpose." If so, there re-
mains nothing for them but to endure in silence. Is that what this
"Irish Catholic" requires? The Cathohcs are divided in then-
politics ; it is their right to be so. But on the question of public
education, in the city of New York, there is not a Catholic who is
acquainted with the subject, and deserving the name, who is not of
the same mind. I doubt much whether your correspondent is one
of the number.
He is extremely liberal of imputations against the Catholics for
preferring what he admits to be their " rightful claims." But he
has forgotten to get any respectable vouch'er to endorse the purity
of his motives in opposing them. Pie calls one of the parties into
which the country is divided " our natural enemies." I do not
know what such expressions mean in the slang of politicians, but
there is no class of enemies of whom the Catholics should be more
on their guard than of such as would traflic on their creed and
country in order to get their votes — men who in periods of political
excitement become more Irish than the Irish themselves, and more
orthodox than the Church ; whilst to both they are little less than a
permanent scandal at all other seasons. Can your correspondent
show me a certiiicate from any pastor of 'New York, that he has
complied' with his religions duties as a Catholic within the last
seven years ? He is a political Catholic, just as Lelande, although
an atheist, professed himself a Catholic atheist.
N'ow I charge upon your correspondent the attempt to defeat
those claims which he acknowledges to be just. And yet he is ap-
prehensive, forsooth, that I shall narrow the sphere of my useful-
ness by supporting those just claims, and doing so without giving
any opportunities for political demagogues of either party to carry
divisions into our union. Let him not be uneasy. If he be an
" Irish Catholic," his commvmication proves that he must have be-
come very "enlightened" since he arrived in this country. The
manual of politics must have superseded the Council of Trent in •
his mind.
He is not even a good reasoner, nor in my mind a clever poli-
tician. He acknowledges the claims of the Catholics to be just,
and yet he denominates their efforts in urging those claims a " pious
fraud." He knows that the Catholic public are unanimous in their
determination to prosecute their "rightful claims," and yet he asserts
that they will receive from the Catholic public (i. e. themselves) " that
contempt which they deserve."
Even the party which he affects to support cannot escape the
havoc of his hasty logic. He tells us that our better hope of justice
will be from his party, ," when in power," as if nothing but power
tt-as Avanting, when they refused those claims last spring. They had
the power and refused to exercise it. What more could our "natural
enemies " do ? But I will save him from the consequences of his
THE SCHOOL QrESTlON. 81
vicious reasoning by observing that the Common Council, in conse-
quen9e of not understanding our claims as they should have been
set forth and understood, made a false issue — and refused what we do
not ask, viz., public money for Catholic education. I believe that
had they understood our grievance simply as they exist, they would
'lave come to a different conclusion. Consequently, in connection
with the subject of Public School Education, it is not necessary for
any Catholic to change his political party, although they are free to
do so if they choose.
I regret exceedingly, Mr. Editor, to be obliged to trespass upon
the limits of your valuable paper, or to appear before the public in.
reply to a correspondent who conceals his name, and adopts a signa-
ture of which, in the present instance, I believe him to be altogether un-
worthy. I have had no connection with political parties — I shall have
none. They are much less important in my mind than the salvation
of one child from spiritual and moral ruin. I see thousands of the
children of our poor Catholics exposed to both; and I appeal to just,
and humane, and patriotic men of all parties, to aid me in effecting
their rescue.
It could not be, therefore, without much pain that I saw my
n^me pinnacled at the head of a political appeal by a partisan in
politics, who professes by his signature to be a member of my
flock. I look upon it as an attack upon me, as an attack upon the
efforts of the Cathoho body to secure their rights of education to
the children, without prejudice to the dearer rights of conscience.
Let your correspondent or any other respectable person write over
his own signature, and not as a political partisan, and I am prepared
to meet him on the whole question. But as for anonymous attacks,
I hope the present communication will relieve me from the necessity
of noticing them in future.
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
S[-< JOHN HUGHES,
Bishop, Coadjutor and Administrator
of New York.
New York, September 3, 1840.
Meeting in the Basement of St. James' Church, Septem-
ber 7, 1840.
On Monday, the 7th September, the largest and most numerously
attended meeting of the Catholics which had yet been held on the
subject of Common School Education, convened in the basement
of St. James' Church. The meeting having been called to order,
Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was unanimously elected to preside over
their deliberations, and the secretaries appointed on former occasions
were again re-elected to that office. After the minutes of the lasj
6
82 ARCHBISHOP HUGHBS.
meeting had been read and approved, the Eight Rev. Dr. Hughes
rose and was received with great and enthusiastic cheering.
After the plaudits had subsided the Bishop proposed to the
meeting, for their adoption, two resolutions designed for the regu-
lation of their proceedings in discussing the important subject
which had called them together. The object of the resolutions, he
said, was to recognize the propriety of adhering strictly, in all re-
marks that should be offered to the meeting, to the question before
thpm, and to induce gentlemen who should favor the meeting with
the expression of their sentiments, to give to the subject that careful
consideration which its importance required.
The resolutions were then proposed and unanimously adopted ;
and the Bishop continued. All present, he said, would at once un-
derstand the peculiar propriety, if not necessity, which existed for
the adoption of these resolutions ; narrowly watched as their move-
ments were on all sides by many who were ready to pervert what-
ever might be said, and to impeach the purity of their motives and
intentions, a more than ordinary degree of circumspection was
necessary. In other places, and at meetings held for the discussion
of other questions of public concern, a greater degree of latitude
was allowed, and so strict a scrutiny of whatever might fall from
gentlemen in the excitement of public speaking was not instituted —
but if any person at our meetings, continued the Bishop, should
make a slip, or inadvertently say anything that was susceptible of
misrepresentation, it was immediately seized upon. Our meetings
here, although not political meetings, are yet composed of persons
of every variety of political opinion. But these political opinions
are all repressed here ; they are not suffered to influence the con-
duct or sentiments of any one, although they are not abandoned nor
laid aside. A man cannot lay down his opinions on entering this
room, as he would lay down his coat. He carries his feelings and
his opinions with him ; they form part of his identity, but they are
not allowed to influence him on this subject. Our meetings are not
then political ; we meet for the purpose of examining and investi-
gating this important subject ; for the purpose of extracting light
that we may see, and understand, and be enabled to vindic.ite our
rights. Neither should it be wondered at by political men that we
should assemble here to discuss the question of our rights, and that
we should oomplain of our grievances. They need not be aston-
ished when they witness it. If they tickle us we must laugh— if
they bruise us we must complain ; when a cause exists they must
lookfor the effect, and need not be surprised to find it. And o'f all
considerations that can press anxiously upon the public mind, the
present system of education in the Public Schools of this city is the
most important, both as it regards the present and the future wel-
fare of those who are subjected to its influence. It is my intention
this evening to review this subject briefly.
"What is the question, Mr. President, which presents itself to us
on examining this subject ?
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 83
The State of 'New York, for the purpose of improving the moral
and intellectual condition of the people, has appropriated a certain
fund for effecting that object; some one who has professed to
understand the law, has declared that it was intended to aid in
diffusing the threefold blessings of religion, morality, and education.
But by the present Public School System in this city, two of these
ends are set at naught. That system does not indeed say in express
terms that it is opposed to religion — it only declares that it is
opposed to sectarianism. But sectarianism in this country means
the whole body of Christianity. By the Constitution there can be
no established religion, but all sects are held alike, and the general
body of Christians is made up of all those sects, and when you
exclude the sects or sectarianism you exclude Christianity. The
object of this law was to aid in the inculcation of religion ; but as
it is now interpreted to mean religion without sectarianism, it oper-
ates, as I have shown, to exclude that for which it was professed
to be established ; it excludes the two prior ends for the attainment
of which it was designed — religion and morality — for religion forms
the whole basis of the moral character, and without it education is
but a dry and barren gift — good for nothing — and worse still, being
often, as we daily see, only a source of ignominy and deeper shame.
Here, then, is the position in which we are placed. We are required
to submit to a system which in fact promotes irreligion. But the
Constitution forbids" the teaching of irreligion by the State as
positively as it forbids the teaching of any creed of sectarianism.
It is as great a violation of the Constitution and of the sacred rights
of conscience, which it guarantees to all alik6, to support irreligion, as
it is to support any particular Christian creed. But by the management
and the theory now recognized by the public authorities, a state of
things is brought about in which we see a great overgrown monopoly,
a false monopoly — grasping at all the public money — assuming to
itself the exclusive right to control and direct popular instruction —
dealing out education according to its own notions — setting parents
and guardians, and all who have a natural or moral right to interfere
in the question of the education of their children, at naught — and
all upon the bold pretense that the religious tendency of other sys-
tems is a disqualification for them to claim a share in the business
of public education. From beginning to end this is their argument,
in fact, that religion is a disqualification, and that the absence of
religion in their system qualifies them to become the exclusive
teachers of the youth of the country — to acquire a monopoly of all
the rights and privileges of public instructors.
And now, sir, I have some public documents connected with this
subject, to which I will call your attention. The first of these is
the " Report of the Commissioners of School Money, for the Year
1840," ordered to be printed and placed on file by the Board of Al-
dermen of this city, on July 27, 1840.
After a very meagre statement of the proceedings, for a whole
year, of the institutions subject to their supervision, we come to
64 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
(lie concluding part of theii- report, -where we find the foUow-
iig:
" The Commissioners, in closing this report, refer with satisfaction to the recent
icisiou of the Board of Assistants, by which a renewal of ecclesiastical connec-
3ns with the Common School System in this city has been unanimously
'3nied."
Pray, what "ecclesiastical connections?" asked the Bishop; I
know of none that were sought for or desired ; I have heard of
none. But it answered a purpose to use these terms. The odium
of foreign ecclesiastical connections upon the city authorities would,
if it could be fastened upon the Catholics, go far towards defeating
their just claims. They asked to be allowed to participate without
violating their sacred rights of conscience in the benefits of this
public fund towards which they had contributed, and they are on
the instant accused of seeking to impose upon the State " ecclesias-
tical connections," and an appeal is thus made against them to im-
worthy prejudices by their opponents, instead of reposing themselves
upon the eternal rock of Truth, and looking to the polar star of
Justice as their guide in this important matter.
No ; they prefer to invent an imaginary case in order to ground
upon it an appeal to popular prejudice ; for I have never yet heard
or understood that the gentlemen who presented themselves before
the Common Council on behalf of the Catholics, sought for any
money for ecclesiastical purposes, for any ecclesiastical connection.
[" Never, sir !" exclaimed some of the gentlemen referred to.]
ittow can they then — how can these Commissioners, continued the
Bishop, talk of an ecclesiastical connection which was never asked
for nor desired — which was never contemplated, nor ever entered
into any person's mind but their own — which never at least entered
into the mind of a single Catholic on this subject? But to proceed
with their report :
" Without adverting to inflexible political maxims, which forbid such an union,
the Commissioners believe that practically it would be offensive to the public
feeling."
Not to justice, exclaimed the Bishop, no — but " public feeling !"
They will not speak the truth, and declare that we are a people
with eight or ten thousand children deprived of education for which
we have paid our money into the public treasury, and from the
benefits of which those children are excluded because we will not
outrage our consciences. No, they will not say this, because this
would not help their system, nor justify their conduct with the
public ; theywill not advert to the principles of truth or justice or
inflexible political maxims, but to public feeling — to prejudices ; and
if they can make out that the Catholics want an ecclesiastical con-
nection, these popular prejudices are excited and their favorite sys-
tem sustained.
Here the Bishop again read from the report :
" Without adverting to inflexible political maxims which forbid such an union
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 85^
the Commissioners believe that pvactieally it wouU be offensive to the public feel-
ing; unequal in its benefit to the various religious denominations; and destructive
perhaps, to the cause, now so flourishing, of free and general education."
How can they, said the Bishop, call it teee, where ten thousand
of the children of the city are excluded, by the bad principles involved
ill this Public School System, from a participation of the benefits
which it would confer if wisely administered ?
The Bishop then continued from the report :
" Should the school moneys be dispensed among the seminaries, the first qualifi-
cation of whose teachers is sectarian orthodoxy, and wherein prescribed forms are
inculcated, to which the assent of no entire neighborhood within the city could
be expected, — "
I have not heard, said the Bishop, that any such distribution of
the school moneys was proposed qr asked for ; but how these ad-
vocates of tlie Public School Society have lived by sectarianism —
which seems to be the beginning and the end and the whole bur-
then of all that they can say in commendation of themselves ! We
are no friends of sectarianism. But it is not the business of the
State to interfere with it. Every man has a political right to be a
sectarian ; and if we begin by excluding sectarian teaching from the
Public Schools, by and by the same authority may creep into the
Church, and exclude all sectarianism there. Every man has a right to
freedom of conscienc^e, to sectarianism, if they please to call it so.
And it is against this freedom, of conscience that this Public School
Society are arraying themselves, taking, from us our money, and
forcing upon us a system of education at which our consciences
revolt. [Great applause.]
But to return to the Commissioners .
— " it is to be feared," they saj-, " that such a distribution would be regarded as
inconsistent with the common rights which the present schema of public instruction
professes to secure."
How anxious they are ! They raise up a fabric of dangerous de-
signs that had no existence but in their own imagination, and then
make a display of their public zeal by denouncing it. Why did
they not look at the reality, and tell the Common Council that it
was a grievance for Catholics to pay taxes for the support of a com-
mon system of education, and then to be excluded from that system
and obliged to pay again for the education of their own poor ? But
no, instead of that, they make out an imaginary case in order to
justify the course which they have pursued, and waste tlieir paper
in describing dangers which were no where to be seen. But I have
repeatedly shown that this sectarianism is nothing else than Chris-
tianity, and that therefore the exclusion of it is the exclusion of
Christianity. If this is not the design of those who have tlie dis-
tribution of this public fund,, if they are sincere in their professions
of regard for religion, and that they desire that the youthful mind
of the country should be imbued with its spirit, why require the
public moneys to fee given to the support of a system that can only
86 ■ ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
aid in producing subjects for infidelity, already so rampant in the
land.
I know, sir, of the case of an individual, he was one who lived
long, and who carried with him in his mind but one single idea,
that was the idea of the length and breadth of a dollar. And by
turning that one idea over and over, he doubled and multiplied it,
and when in his old age he died, he died worth fifteen millions of
dollars. That man was Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia. He made
a will and appropriated a large portion of his wealth to the educa-
tion of orphans. In that will there is a clause of a genius so similar
to the spirit of our Public School Society, that one would suppose
they had both derived their philosophy from the same source. I
will read it for you — I have the entire will here with me. This is
the clause :
" Secondly, / enjoin and require thai no ecelesiaslical missionary or minister of any
sect whatsoever shall ever hold or exercise any station whatsoever in the said college ;
nm- shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a viiitor, within the
premises appropriated to the purposes of the said college. In making this restriction
I do not mean to cast any reflection upon any sect or person whatsoever ; "but as
there is such a multitude of sects, and such a diversity of opinion amongst them,
I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans [Oh, the merciful Stephen Girard I]
who are to derive advantage from this bequest, free from the excitement which
clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce."
Almost a copy word for word of the doctrines of our Public
School Society ; only that as Stephen Girard is dead some eight or
ten years, and must have niade his will before he died, we might
doubt which of them, Stephen or the Public School Society, was
entitled to the credit of originality in this rigid and pertinacious ex-
clusion of all sectarianism from their system of education. [Laughter.]
But the wiU. continues :
" My desire is that all the instructors and teachers in the college shall take pains
to instill into the minds of the scholars tlie purest principles of morality," —
Just as the gentlemen of the Public School say. But where will
you get morality when you exclude religion ?
— " so that on their entrance into life they may from inclination and habit evince
benevolence towards their fellow creatures and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry,
adopting at the same time such religious tenets as their matured reason may eniible
them to prefer."
That is, said the Bishop, regarding the mind of the pupil just as
you would a machine, which when once set in motion would con-
tinue on without change or cessation, that would be so long accus-
tomed to turn on one particular cog that it would continue to do so
for ever after. [Laughter.]
I know, sir, of no parallel to the course of our Public School So-
ciety but this individual instance of Stephen Girard. But the par-
allel does not hold good throughout. It fails in one important point.
There was this difierence, that if he had his own peculiar notions of
education, Stephen paid the expenses out of his own pocket. [Great
laughter and appl^iise.] If he was cruel to the unhappy orphan and
THE SCHOOL QUESTION-. 87
W'iblied to deprive him of the blessings of a religious education, he
was willing, so far js pecuniary considerations were involved, to be
himself the ^■ictim of his experiment. But these gentlemen require
you to pay for the infliction upon you of the evils of their system.
They demand to be made the exclusive recipients of the public
money ; that it shall all be handed over to them, and that they shall
be allowed to give you in return just 'such a system of education as
they shall be pleased to provide, no matter how it may conflict with
your rights or your consciences. [Great applause.]
I will now offer some remarks upon some other public documents
connected with this subject which I have with me this evening.
In document ISTo. 80, of the records or proceedings of the Common
Council, is contained the Eeport of the Committee of the Common
Council, to whom the claims of the Catholics to a portion of the
Common School Fund was referred. In this Eeport the Committee
draw a distinction between the name " Incorporated Religious So-
cieties," who under the old law had an absolute right to the fund,
and the term " societies," as used in the Revised Statutes, and come
to the conclusion that a religious incorporated society is not a " so-
ciety," within the meaning of the new law. But we will not be par-
ticular about terms, and if they will deny it to us as a " Society,"
they are still authorized to grant a share of the public fund to " In-
stitutions or Schools," and Catholic schools can certainly, equally
with others, be embraced under one of those terms.
The Committee also talre up the objections made by the Catholics
to the present administration of the Common School System and
attempt a reply to them.
" It is urged," say the Committee, " on the part of the Catholic petitioners that
they, as tax-payers, contribute to the fund thus annually raised, and that they are
thus entitled to participate in its- benefits. This is undoubtedly true, but it should
be borne in mind, that they are taxed not as members of the Bomaii Catholic
Church, but as citizens of the State of New York."
That is, said the Bishop, we are citizens when they come to us to
gather the taxes, but we are Roman Catholics when we look for a
share of the fund thus contributed. [Tremendous applause,] lam
at a loss to learn the grounds of this distinction. That we were cit-
izens so long as we had taxes to pay was not denied ; but when we
seek to participate in the fund, with all their best efforts they could
only see one thing, that we were Roman Catholics. But we tell
them now that we want this money as citizens. We are Catholics,
it is true, and the Constitution gives us a right to be what we are,
and as citizens we come and ask for our rights in this matter. But
the whole proceeding on their part has been designed to baffle and
put us off. To use a homely expression, they have only been throw-
ing dust in the eyes of the public. What is it but throwing dust,
teaching all who are interested, that we are looking for the public
money to support religion, when we would be amongst the very first
to resist such an application of those moneys.
There is another point in relation to this Report ; and it is one of
88 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
humiliation when I consider that the disingenuonsness to which I
refer (jould enter into the minds or plans of the high-mmded gen-
tlemen who framed the Report. It is entitled "The Report ot the
Committee on Arts and Sciences and Schools, on the petition ot the
officers and members of the Roman Catholic and other churches in
the city of New York, for an apportionment of school moneysto the
schools attached to said churches." ISTow, said the Bishop, with the
exception of the trustees of the Scotch Presbyterian Church and the
Hebrew congregations in Crosby and Elm streets, there was no
church in the city of New York that petitioned the Common Coun-
cil on the subject. They sent in no petitions. They sent remon-
strances, however, against the claim of the Catholics, saying in effect
to the Common Council : if you grant to these the Catholic peti-
tioners what they claim, you will be run down with applications.
And even the Hebrews and the Scotch Presbyterian Church who
profess to claipi a portion of the fund do not directly petition for it.
The Committee should not therefore call them petitions, but should
class them where they properly belong, with the remonstrances, for
as such they were intended to operate. Do I find these alleged
petitioners complaining of the present system ? They say : " Your
memorialists had not thought of asking that any portion of the Com-
mon School Fund might be directed from its present channels of
disbursement." What is this but an admission, an implied declara-
tion, that such a diversion of the fund from its present channel
would be improper, and the whole is designed to impress upon the
Common Council the recollection that if the Catholic demand was
granted other claimants would arise ; for this purpose these petitions
were sent in and intended to be used, and in that respect they are
more effective than the remonstrances which they appear designed
to co-operate with. I do not say that such was the design, but such
is the effect in point of fact. " They had not thought," they say,
" of asking that any portion of the Common School Fund should be
directed from its present channels of disbursement." Why then
petition unless to discredit the Catholics ? Here again, following up
the same idea : " But understanding that the trustees of the Cath-
olic Schools of this city have asked for a part of said fund, if your
honorable body shall determine to grant their request and thus estab-
lish the principle that this fund though raised by general tax may
be appropriated to church or sectarian schools, then your memorialists
respectfully but earnestly contend that they are entitled to a ratable
jiortion thereof."
We do not, said the Bishop, want this money for church or sec-'
tarian schools. We merely want to educate our children without
instilling poisonous matter into their minds.
(The Bishop here read the conclusion of the Petition of the Scotch
Presbyterian Church, praying that they may be allowed to draw on
the school fund for the children taught at their schools ; and also
the petition of the Hebrew Congregation of a similar tenor, praying
for a portion of the fund, ''provided the Common Council should de-
THK SCHOOL QUESTION. 89
termine to appropriate it zaiih reference to religious faith") These
two petitions, then, continued the Bishop, tlie only ones praying in
any manner for a portion of the fund, are, in fact, prayers against
our rights — remonstrances — and should be classed with them. They
do not allege that they "want the fund or that they are suffering any
grievance — but they caution as it were the Common Council against
granting the relief we ask, as, in that event, they will also demand a
share.
All these gentlemen seem to think that we are very difficult to
please ; and they particularly urge that if we press our claims, the
present system of public education will be broken up. But I have
a simple answer to these objections. The schools are not as sacred
as conscience. The Constitution secures the right of conscience to
parent and child, but is silent on the rights of Common Schools.
There is then this answer to the argument which they draw from,
the dangers to which the prosecution of our claim exposes the Com-
mon School System. But we have another answer. Every other
denomination seems entirely satisfied with the present system. But
we are not satisfied with it. It is not one that we ever can be satis-
fied with. I shall show you presently that all who have sent in re-
monstrances against our rights approve of the ^jresent Public School
System.
The first on the list of remonstrances against our rights which we
have in this document No. 80, is " The Remonstrance of the Trus-
tees of the Public School Society ;" they of course approve of their
own system, and after stating their objections to our claim, they
conclude by saying, that their Executive Committee will present a
remonstrance more in detail. And in this remonstrance of the Ex-
ecutive Committee which I have also here, are some allegations that
require a passing comment. They state there that the objections of
the Catholics to the Public Schools are not " on account of any rehg-
ious doctrines taught in them, but because the peculiar doctrines of
the Church of Rome are not taught therein ; and they now ask (the
remonstrance -adds) for a portion of the public money, in order that
these doctrines may be taught in connection with the kind of instruc-
tion for which these moneys were raised." In the preceding para-
graphs are the following statements: "The managers of these
schools (the Catholic schools), having what they might deem higher
and more important objects in view, in the inculcation of religious
creeds or dogmas, could scarcely fail to neglect the literary for the
religious culture of the children's minds. If it be urged that the
Catholic schools are open to all, without distinction as to religious
sect, your remonstrants reply that this ftict only enhances the objec-
tion to granting the prayer of their petition ; which then virtually is
that they may lie enabled to gain proselytes at the public expense."
First they object to us that if we should be enabled to establifeh
schools for the education of the Catholic children, we -H-ould teach
our Catechism in them. And then if we reply that our schools arc
open to all, they charge us with a scheme for making proselytes at
90 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
the public expense. On what data do these gentlemen predicate
these calumnious statements? We do not want nor ask for the
public money to enable us to teach any religious doctrines. Ihe
assertion is a calumny for which no foundation can be discovered.
[Great applause.]
And now we come to the Methodists.
The members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, after statmg
in their remonstrance their objections to the grant of the Catholic
application, add :
" Your memorialists wish to be understood distinctly to declare their increased
confidence in, and approval of, the policy of appropriating the Public School
money to Ihe Public Schook only, and therefore remonstrate most decidedly
against granting the petition of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Schools,
■which, in their estimation, would be a perversion of the Public School Fund." ^
Here we find the Methodists expressing their confidence in the
Public School System.
"We have, then, the remonstrance of William Holmes and sixty-
one other citizens, protesting against the diversion of the Public
School Fund from its present channel. Next comes the remon-
strance of the " East Broome street Baptist Church," in which they
express their beUef " that the present popular and highly efficient
Public Schools are better calculated to promote the education of the
rising generation than it could be done if entrusted to the great
diversity of religious sects into which the people are divided."
"Lockwood* Smith, and two hundred and nine other citizens,"
also remonstrate ; reiterating the groundless assertion that the
Catholics want the public funds to aid them in educating their
children according to their religious faith.
No, that is not what we want ; but simply that our children shall
not be taught that Catholics are " deceitful."
There is, then, no reason for the Public School Society to appre-
hend danger from the opposition of other denominations. The
Baptists — the Methodists — Mr. Lockwood Smith and two hundred
and nine others — all approve of the present distribution of the
public fund. They have full confidence in the present system.
Let them. We have none, and have no reason to.
We have here, too, the remonstrance of the " Reformed Protest-
ant Dutch Church," which I must not pass over; for you all know
that some leading persons in that church are the most gentlemanly,
polite, charitable, kind and conciliatory characters imaginable, when-
ever they treat of us or of our religion. [Laughter.] Well, these
gentlemen, too, declare in their remonstrance their unqualified
approval of the present administration of the Common School
Fund. But in referring to our application, they make some further
observations.
'"We believe," they say, '4t is the only instance in which any
society of professed Christians has ventured to invite the public au-
thorities in so-open a manner to forget or disregard that fundamental
principle of our civil compact, '■free toleration of all religious denonu
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 91
inaiions, special and exclusive privileges to none,^ and has boldly soli-
cited that their private and sectarian interests may be taken under
the fostering care of this State."
According to the principles of this remonstrance, then, said the
Bishop, it is necessary,' for the existence of free toleration, to tax
you for the support of schools from which you must either derive
no benefit, or allow your children's religious feelings and principles
to be perverted. For this is the alternative that the present system
imjioses upon Catholics, and it is to be relieved from this injustice
that they ask, and not, as is untruly charged, to violate ai>y princi-
ples of free toleration.
In the same manner with those I have read do all the remon-
strances proceed, approving fully of the pj-esent appropriation of
the»public funds.
There are no grounds, then, for the pretended alarm for the pros-
perity of the public schools ; or that the costly piiblic structures
which they have raised will become worthless. Every denomina-
tion besides the Catholics appears to be satisfied with the present
system, and from among those who have this confidence enough will
be found to fill their schools.
But those gentlemen go too far in their opposition : they place it
on grounds that cannot be sustained ; they go too far for the law ;
and even if the law bears them out, they go too far ; for if any law
of the State of New York operates either to compel a violation of
our consciences, or to deprive us of the benefit of taxation, it is not
constitutional. There is in. the Constitution no principle that can
justify coercion of conscience ; and against this injustice we will
appeal to the end. We cannot be worse than we are now. We
are paying now for a system from which we receive nothing in
return. When I speak of paying, I do not speak of men who live
in three-story houses ; for we all pay, the poor as well as the rich —
the poor man in the labor which he contributes — not only he who
owns or occupies a house, but every one who boards in a house
pays for the support of this system. We cannot be worse than we
are. We have striven for years to provide a substitute for those
schools from which we are excluded, and we cannot be reduced to
a worse extremity. They say to us, We throw open our schools ;
why do you not enter ? But if, instead of learning truth, our chil-
dren are stultified by false history, are open doors a compensation
for such a resKilt? Yes, take their books, and when your child has
read them through from first to last, what does he know of Catho-
lics? Nothing,; hardly knows that such a people existed, except
when killing Cranmer, or when reading of Luther as the greatest-
character of the age ; or about Huss being burned by those " de-
ceitful Catholics."
But if they choose to represent Cranmer as a saint, or a martyr,
they must not force their opinion of his character upon us. Scholars
— men who have studied and know what the truth of history is—
know that, so far from being a saint or a worthy character, he was
02 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
(at least in our opinion, and in this country we have a right to our
opinion) one of the greatest hypocrites. In discussing this matter,
gentlemen vrUl sny to me, " Bishop, do not press your rights too
strenuously; it will only excite prejudices which you know exist on
the subject." Yes, they will deplore those prejudices, and yet they
will put into the hands of the children of the public the very sources
from which these prejudices are derived. They will tell me, " Oh,
you know how prejudiced the public mind is ;" but if they put mto
the hands of the youth of this country the false history of Cranmer,
and others like it, what can they expect will be the result but a
prejudiced public ? When they bring forward passages, for the
instruction of children, from Beattie, Robertson, Hume, how will
children come out from such schools ? as if they thought that Cath-
olics had no existence — did not know their own history. I speak of
historical learning particularly. In the schools they must have
works to exercise and inform the minds of children : but why always
select those which convey the worst meaning? We have some
recollections. Catholics have had a past — a glorious past ; they
have had a history — one from which might be drawn ample lessons
of virtue, and wisdom, and patriotism ; and instead 6f selecting
from false and prejudiced writers, they might as well have gone
back and extracted some portions of Catholic history — something of
Catholic achievements — something of Catholic inventions and dis-
coveries. We should not then witness the depressing effect which
the repetition of all those slanderous tales against Catholics pro-
duces on the young Catholic mind. Have you not obser\ed it
yourselves ? Have you not seen the young Catholic, whose mind
has been filled with these calumnies, half ashamed, when he enters
the world, of his Catholic name and his Catholic associates, regard-
ing them often as an inferior, worthless set ? and how often has he
selected a different class of companions, merely from the servile
influence of these prejudices ! But if we were allowed our rights,
and permitted to draw from the treasures of Catholic knowledge,
how different would be the result ! Our children might then have
their minds imbued with a knowledge of all that their Catholic
fathers had done? they would then know that almost all the inven-
tions and discoveries which ha\-e ennobled the history of the modern
world are the productions of Catholic genius or enterprise; the
invention of printing— that greatest and most poweiful means in
the dissemination of knowledge ; the post-office ; the Sabbath-school,
on which they so much pride themsehes, and which is the fruit of
the benevolence and piety of a Catholic Archbishop— the sainted
Borromeo ; the newspaper or gazette ; tlie telescope ; the mariner's
compass.; the discovery of this great continent; all associated with
Catholic names and Catholic genius. And to pass from the material
world to the world of mind and morals, we will find there the same
abundant store of Catholic associations with which to fill the mind
of the Catholic child, and teach him to look upon himself and those
from whom he has deri\'ed his name, with respect and honest pride.
THE SCHOOL QUESTIOIf. 93
If you would let them have an idea of wliat there is great or excel-
lent in the Constitution of England, only tell them to tahe away all
that is Catholic, and what will remain ? Take it all, and what will
be left but poor-la-ws, and poor-houses, and two or three similar
institutions. Such would be the result of a Catholic education.
But, deprived of our rights, we can only expect to see two classes
— one educated, deriving benefits from a fund to which we have a
rightful claim, but from which we are excluded ; one class able to
devise the means for their elevation ; the other uneducated, depressed
and degraded; one composed of mechanics, men of knowledge and
enterprise ; the other left to carry the water and hew the wood,
without any means for improving their state except what the poor
Catholics can themselves provide. And all this because we will not
send our children where they will be trained up without religion ;
lose respect for their parents and the faith of their fathers, and come
out little philosophers, turning up their noses at the name of Cath-
olic, and ashamed of what they are in truth too -ignorant to respect
or comprehend. Never was there a more cruel injustice than
this system entails upon us, but I am willing to believe that it is an
injustice of which those who inflict it do not know the full extent.
If the Public School Society would remove the objections of
which we complain; if they will not'allow bad books or anti-
Catholic influences to operate in their system, we should gladly
send our children to partake of its benefits ; provided advantage be
not taken of the humility of their state, and that it will not be as 1
have known it once, when a child came home from one of these
schools abashed, arid saying that he could not again attend where all
were dressed in their fine clothes and ridiculed his rags and poverty.
We have no objection that these gentlemen* themselves should take
the whole management of the instruction into their hands, provided
it be done without the accompanying violations of conscience of
which we complain. But I shall press this subject upon those who
have the right and the authority to relieve us. 1 will reduce them to
the necessity of admitting the justice of our claims, whether the relief
is granted or not. We sh.all take away every pretext from them
which they now use to deprive our children of the rights which a
benevolent country has provided for them. Our consciences may
appear to them to be singularly sensitive. But what subject is
there of greater interest ? At the death-bed of the parent what is
there that excites in his breast a more keen and anxious solicitude
than that his child should remain true and faithful to his religion ;
and if such is the anxiety of the dying parent, what must be the
feelings of the living ? But these sacred feelings of the parent are
disregarded in this Pubhc School System, and they treat us like the
orphans of Stephen Girard. But with the diflference which I have
before noticed, that in this case the money which they waste in the
experiment is ours. But so long as the system remains unreformed,
they shall not, they may rely on it, have Catholic children to prac-
tic« upon.
l»4 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
In the Kepbrt of the School Commissioners for the past year there
is one thing I am yorry to see — the small number educated by the
Public School Society with the large means at their disposal diirmg
that period. It is stated there that they educated 13,189 children,
while we educated at our own expense one-third of that number ;
and while we were also obliged to swell their fund. They received
from the public fund $115,799 42, during the past year, and yet,
while we at our own cost educated one-third as many childrenas
they have done, they come in and remonstrate against our receiving
any portion of the public money to which we had contributed.
They may tell me it is zeal for the cause of general education that
actuates them ; but I assert that, with zeal and good management,
a much larger number of children might have been educated with
the same means than this Report shows. They say they have but
one end in view — the public good ; but being as they are such large
recipients of the public bounty, they should not be the first to step
between us and the public councils. They do not comprehend their
own position. They do not believe that they are all this time
swelling the tide of irreligion. They allege this, and therefore I
do not discredit their motives ; still, they are not infallible nor im-
peccable. And I do not see but that, with all their love for power,
grasping for the public mbney, and stepping in to defeat the appli-
cation of rightful claimants, there may be more that is earthy and
fallible in their motives than they admit even perhaps to themselves.
But however this may be, one thing is certain, that while the system
remains vmchanged there can be no more connection on the part of
Catholics with the Public Schools,
They pretend that the law cut off all religious societies. But the
law did not cut them off. It only moderated the right to demand
a portion of the fund. It left it discretionary with the Common
Council to grant or to refuse the money. It did not disqualify reli-
gious societies from becoming recipients of the public fund. I have
examined this question carefully and as well as my numerous other
engagements would permit, and I am entirely satisfied that no Cath-
ohc can conscientiously allow his child to attend those schools as at
present constituted.
While in the popular efforts at reform a hue and cry has been
raised against monopolies, there has been gradually a monopoly of
mind established ; taking it, too, in its most tender and susceptible
period ; and this monopoly is one which should be guarded against
with the utmost jealousy. The duty which it assumes belongs of
right to the parent and the citizen, and it is the last which should
be given up. If parents had delegated the right, it could not be
more authoritatively used than it is now by this monopoly. But
the right has not been delegated. It is a self-elected public in-
structor whose members are chosen within themselves on the prin-
ciples of the close borough system. And against this monopoly
and its spirit of encroachment we must never cease to direct our
most anxious attention.
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 95
The adversaries of our claims -will seldom now dispute the fact
of the existence of our grievances. But they will bid us look to
public feeling ; they will appeal to prejudices which they say are
arrayed against us. But I have no alarm. All denominations they
say will be leagued against us. If we ask for anything unjust, we
might feel apprehensive. But if we make the justice of our case
clear, if we clear away the mist which these documents and other
siniilar misstatements have created, my confidence is unshaken th.it
their sense of public justice will make even our opponents them-
selves accede to our just and temperate demands.
The Right Rev. Prelate here closed his address, throughout the,
delivery of which he was repeatedly applauded in the most enthu-
siastic manner, and he sat down amid loud and long-continued
cheering.
When several other speakers had addressed the meeting, the
Bishop rose and said, that in their present position in relation to
this question additional measures should be taken to insure the suc-
cess of their cause. They must promote it now not by speaking
alone, and he w^ould propose that some means of approaching the
Common Council should be devised ; that a committee be appointed
for devising some mode of ascertaining whether the Common Council
are still disposed to persevere in denying to the Catholics their
rights ; that mode might be either by petition or in some other
form. The Legislature had not denied to religious societies the
right to receive a portion of the Common School Fund. By the
alteration which had been made in the old law the obligation to dis-
tribute a portion of the fund among the religious incorporated soci-
eties had ceased, but the discretion to make such a distribution
where it would be reasonable to do so was still left. The law does
not state that a school connected with a church should not recei^•e
a share of the fund. There is no such disqualification imposed,
and consequently a discretion is still left to the Common Council to
make such a school one of the recipients, when a proper case should
arise. It is objected that the Catholics cannot bring themselves
within the meaning of any of the terms used in the recent laws.
But let this verbiage be put away ; let them call it schools or soci-
eties, they are certainly one or the other. The law never designed
that the Common Council should indulge caprice or whirti; but,
when they found a just or reasonable ground for the application,
they should grant it.
This committee might arrange the Executive part of the business,
said the Bishop, so that while we talk and while we write (for it
may yet be necessary to write much on this subject) we shall also
take some more definite action in the matter. I will therefore move
that a committee of five be appointed for the purpose I have indi-
cated. I will suggest that, in order to guard against any imputa-
tion of political partiality, two gentlemen of the committee be
selected from each of the leading political parties. [Great ap-
plause.]
96 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
The Bishop's motion being seconded, was then pnt to the meet-
ing by the chairman and carried unanimously, and the following
gentlemen were appoSited members of the committee : Rt. Rev. Dr.
Hughes, Thomas O'Connor, Dr. Sv/eeney, James W. McKeon, and
James Kelley.
Meeting in the Basement of St. James's Churoh, Septem-
ber 21, 1840.
On Monday evening, September 21, the Catholics again met in
great numbers in the basement of St. James's Church, to receive the
report of the committee appointed at the previous meeting to pre-
pare a memorial to the Common Council on the subject of their
claim to a portion of the Common School Fund for the education
of Catholic children. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes was present
and was received with a warm and affectionate greeting on his
entrance. The Very Rev. Dr. Power was also cordially welcomed
as he entered the place of meeting, accompanied by a large body
of clerical and lay gentlemen, after an absence of some months from
the city for the restoration of his health. At the time appointed
for the commencement of proceedings Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was
again called to the chair, Gregory Dillon, Esq., was chosen Vice-
President, and the secretaries of former meetings were re-appointed
Mr. B. O'Conner, one of the secretaries, read the minutes of the
last meeting, and they were approved and adopted. Mr. James W.
McKeon then rose and said that the committee appointed at the
last meeting to prepare a memorial to the city authorities had dis
charged the duty assigned to them, and were ready to make theii
report. He therefore moved that the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes,
the chairman of the committee, be respectfully requested to read the
memorial which the committee had prepared. The motion having
been carried by acclamation, the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes came
forward and read the memorial, which was a most able and interest-
ing document.
On the_ motion of Mr. Gallagher, the report of the committee
was unanimously adopted, and another committee, consisting of
Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Dr. Hugh Sweeney, James W. McKeon,
Esq., and J. Kelley, Esq., were appointed to proceed at once to
present the memorial to the Board of Aldermen which was then in
council. In the absence of the chairman on this mission as one
of the committee appointed for that purpose, the vice-president
became the chairman of the meeting, but he requested the aid of
the Very Rev. Dr. Power, who took the chair amidst loud acclama-
tion. A motion was then made that the Petition just read, be
printed and published as containing an able, lucid, and clear exposi-
tion of the whole question, and the grounds on which the claims of
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. ' 07
f
the Catholics rested, and that by so doing it would prevent a gar-
bled-statement of its contents going befoi-e the public. But on. the
suggestion of Bishop Hughes that it might be showing a want of
proper courtesy on their part, to do so before publication by order
of the Common Council, the motion Avas withdrawn.*
After Dr. Power had addressed the meeting, the Right Rev.
Bishop Hughes presented himself, and was received with great
applause. He said he had mentioned, some time ago, that he had
understood that a reply, which usually meant an attempt at refuta-
tion, was being prepared by the Trustees of the Public Schools.
Happening to allude to it one evening, he had ventured to turn
prophet and say that it would be no reply in the sense of a refuta-
tion, and that prophecy was fulfilled in the document in his hand.
He said then there would be no meeting and grappling with the
facts and arguments of the Address, and he now found that instead
there was an appeal to public opinion ! They had tlie idea that the
prejudices of the community were with them, and that consequently
they could dispense with the trouble of contending with facts and
arguments at all ; and to get the " weather guage," as the sailor
would say, they introduce in the first paragraph the old phrase
about " Church and State," and they represent the Catholic Address
as a new appeal for a portion of the School Fund for the support
of their church-schools, as schools in which nothing but the cate-
chisin was taught from morning to night. He trusted now, that
the language of their Petition would make it clear, for they had been
reduced to the necessity of telling them what they did noi petition
for. [Applause.]
Well, after the introduction, which was the making their bow to
the prejudices of the community, they come to a proposition at which
he was startled ; the proposition was in these words : " It is proper,
therefore, that the allegations contained in the Address of the Roman
Catholics, be either admitted or refuted." Bravo, said he [laughter],
now you talk like men. In the next sentence they said, " They are
of a grave and serious character" — that they were [applause] — •
"and such as should, if true, justly deprive the Trustees of the con-
fidence which has been so long reposed in them. Bui they are not
truV And that — "But they are hot true" — was all the refutation
they gave. After that they might look in vain and they would not
find a single fact in their Address disproved; but they proceed to ad-
minister to that disreputable prejudice on which they calculated with
so much certainty. And as they had furnished no ground of review,
as they had taken up no point of. the Address, as they had not re-
futed any of its facts or reasonings, of course he was dispensed from
the necessity of going over all they had said, and he should there-
fore merely go over some portions of it, more for the purpose of pass-
ing the evening than for any other purpose. Well, they take advant-
age i^f this public prejudice ; then they state what they are charged
* This Petition is given on page 102.
98 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
»
with, and they add the significant words "But we forbear." [Laugh-
ter.] They say of the books, though, afterwards — they are brought
a little to their senses and cry peccavi — they do say they have had
wrong' books in the schools. This they acknowledge. But they say
" The reading-books used in the Public Schools are the same as those
used in private schools of a similar grade, in which children of vari-
ous religious persuasions, including those of our more wealthy fel-
low citizens of the Roman Catholic Church, are educated." And
pray was it an approval of those books because some of their "more
wealthy fellow citizens of the Roman Catholic Church" allowed
their children to be educated where they were used. No ; but they
submitted to it. But it would seem that the spirit of Proselytism,
and the device of meeting the children at the threshold, had be-
come general. They attacked the young mind, knowing that they
could not convert the grown-up Catholic in whose mind their holy
and divine faitK.was well established. [Applause.] But if Catholics
had allowed their children to attend schools where these books were
used it did not follow that they approved of them. Again they say
"many of them contain the best, most sublime and impressive essays
on morals and religion that can be found in the English language,"
— that is, they being the judges, — "and are ■ calculated to impress
on the young mind a belief in the existence of God " — what a long
creed that is ! — [laughter] — "the immortality of the soul"— why, Plato
believed that ! — and a future state of rewards and punishments. "They
picture vice in its naked deformity, and present virtue in her most
pleasing and attractive colors." And this is the answer they give to
the Address of th§ Catholics; and then, by way of showing what ex-
cellent institutions these Public Schools are — for they have not a high
test of their moral influence^they say, " Let the records of our crim-
inal courts, our prisons, and the receptacles of those who by reason
of 'rioting in the fierceness of unrestrained lusts,' have become a
public charge, be examined with reference to the effect of our system
of education on the mind and morals, as compared with any other
system, and the result will be found highly favorable to the Public
Schools." That is to.say, if the scholars do not find themselves
fof-thwith m the Penitentiary, the system is not so bad ! But we
should expect something better. He had said so to the Trustees,
and he violated no confidence by the disclosure— [laughter]— he had
told them that though the scholars educated in those schools were not
the persons most frequently found in the criminal jails, he was able
to prove, so far as such a matter was susceptible of proof, that the
.exclusiveness and the spirit of monopoly in that body of men, and the
eonsequent exclusion of so many from means of education, was the
cause why others do go to the Penitentiary. The children of the
,po_©r who did _,not go to those schools were not allowed by the pre-
,va.ling exclusiveness in the Trustees to be educated out of their
■",sho,p^ .tbey were consequently left uneducated and unrestrained;
•they ^i-e lett to form bad acquaintances by whom they became cor'
,j!Ujited,.and they corrupters in their turn. The cause was in the ex-
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 09
clusiveness of those men who would not allow them to have teachers
in whom they had confidence. [Applause.]
Here they refer to a chapter entitled " Sunday Morning," which he
read at a previous meeting from one of those school books ; and of
all chapters they thought this was selected with the least judgment.
They would recollect it was a story of a father and his son passing
on the Sunday morning through the churches of the different deno-
minations, and after entering a Catholic place of worship and re-
marking on every one of the Catholic congregation dipping his finger
in holy water and crossing himself as he went in, they wound up
that sincerity was the true spirit ; or in other words that it made no
difference what they believed — whether Quaker, Baptist, Episcopa-
lian, Unitarian, Methodist, or Roman Catholic — provided they raised
the man who fell in the street ; or provided one raised him, and
another applied a smelling-bottle to his nose, and another ran for a
surgeon, and another attended to his wife and children, it was no
matter what their religious creed was. - [Laughter.] Now this had
been before commented on in a newspaper paragraph, and in a leisure
half hour he wrote an answer, and to put it to the test he asked in
that letter that some Christian minister in liTew York should be got
to endorse that chapter from the pulpit, and no one could be found to
do it. Now there was a very powerful answer or refutation — for it
was to be observed that they lay down the rule that v/hat they don't
refute was to be admitted — they meet one of the charges of objections
of Catholics in the following manner : " They say that they could
not discharge their conscientious duty to their offspring if they al-
lowed them to be brought up under the irreligious principles on
which the Public Schools are conducted" — and observe they profess
to exclude all sectarianism, and if they do they exclude all Christian-
ity, and the system must be irreligious. Having quoted those words,
they give this answer : " And while they ask of the State the means
of supporting their schools, that they may train up their children 'in
principles of virtue and religion,' they assure the public that they
would scorn to support or advance their religion at any other than
their own expense." Certainly, Catholics assure the public of that,
and he repeated the assurance. But they proceed: "A solution of
some of these incongruities may, perhaps, be found in the fact, that
they do not class themselves among sectarians, or denominations of
Christians, but claim to be emphatically ' The Church.' " Now they
never found any such expression in any thing they had said. They
(the Catholics) spoke of their position as they stand before the coun-
try. The law called them a sect, and they spoke of themselves as
the law spoke of them, and those men thus readily resorted to this
perversion of their ideas without one iota of proof They (the Ca-
tholics) defied them to show that they had spoken as was asserted.
[Applause.] The reverend gentleman who referred a few minutes ago
to his part of the subject might have extended his remarks a little
further in the same chapter. They speak of the question of education
in Ireland, and to justify themselves they introduce what they had
100 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
said at a recent conference and the reply that was made to them.
They say: "It is known that a large portion of the bishops and cler-
gy of the established and other Protestant churches, and a majority
of the Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland, have agreed upon a gen-
eral system of education, and a collection of extracts from the sacred
Scriptures for the National Schools of that country. At the confer-
ence just referred to, the question was distinctly put, whether the
objection of the Catholic clergy to the Public Schools, so far as re-
gards reading the Scriptures without note or comment, would be re-
moved by the use of these extracts in them. The answer was, that
the dissenting bishops had appealed to the Pope against the majority
of their body, and as/his Holiness had not yet settled the question,
he was not prepared to give his answer. The Trustees very much
regret that circumstances have placed them in a situation which ren-
ders this exposition necessary. But they could not do less and dis-
charge their duty to themselves and the public." Why, the Trustees
must have strange notions of the subject to suppose they need express
regret for making disclosures which are published in every pap%r in
the Britsh Empire ; but the meeting would perceive they were still
feeding that abominable prejudice of the public mind; saying in
effect: "Though the Protestants quarrel among themselves, they are
agreed against you" (Catholics). Oh! but Catholics have appealed
to the Pope, and they wanted to create prejudice by that, while they
claim credit for the moderation with which they had made it kno-jvn.
Yes, the Catholics do consult the' Pope, and they glory in consulting
the Holy Father, the Catholic Chief Pastor. [Great applause.] Now
it was not to be passed over that these gentlemen are over royal in
their ambition when they would place themselves in juxtaposition
with the British Crown — would consider themselves as holding the
same relation to us that the British Government held with the Irish
clergy in the question in dispute between them. But here the ques-
tion was not the same ; for the Trustees of the Public Schools in
New York were a private corporation, while the Catholics in Ireland
had to do with the British Government ; and concession yielding to
that government should form no precedent here. The contracting
parties on the other side were exceedingly different. But they come
to another point to show their liberality — they "yield to the conscien-
tious scruples of the Roman Catholics !" They yield ! What have
they to yield ? But they " are bound to protect the feelings and in-
terests of the Protestant churches !"
In England there is an officer who is designated the "Keeper
of the King's Conscience," and the Trustees of the Public School
Society are become the guardians of the consciences of both the
Catholics and Protestants— emph.atically the protectors of "the feel-
ings and interests of the Protestant churches !" [Laughter.] They
stand as umpires between the churches, and they profess to regret
that the Catholic clergy have not met them to obtain their confidence,
and to have a joint examination and expurgation of the Public School
books. Why, if they had, in what a situation would they have been?
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 101
Suppose he should go to the study of those books day after day, and
^veek after week, to point out the necessary corrections, and after he
had taken that trouble by courtesy to supply their want of ability to
understand them themselves, should be told that they must first
"protect the feelings and interests of the Protestant churches?" Did
they think Catholics had no "feelings" at all to be "protected?" Did
they think Catholics would make those corrections and submit them
to a board where there were but one or two voices that would be
raised to " protect " their religion, and enforce their constitutional
right to their doctrines? A question was asked of him whether
jCatholics would be content if they excluded all Scripture " without
note or comment." But he told them that Catholics were too hum-
ble to expect such a sacrifice. He was not willing to put it in their
power to place Catholics Jsefore Protestants as having such enmity
to the word of God. He did not say they would do so, but it would
have been in their power to make that use of that concession, and t!e
^vas resolved not to make or give them the opportunity. And here,
again, after referring to the Pope, and the question of education in
Ireland, they tell us they " remain ready and anxious to join with
the Roman Catholics in efforts so to model the books and studies in
the Public Schools, as to obviate existing difficulties. They think
that it may be done. But" and whenever they heard but in
language of this kind, they might expect something insurmountable
— [laughter] — " if, as was the case in the Irish National Schools, an
appeal to the Pope should be necessary, they are free to confess, in
the language of the Address, that ' a perfect neutrality of influence, on
the subject of religion,' is indeed impossible." Why, the fact is if
they had not truth wherewithal to meet the Catholic's facts and argu-
ments, as this showed they had not, it was not worth their while to
sneer at them, or to introduce this sly observation as though it was
matter of their concern whether- Catholics consult the Pope or not.
But Catholics did not require the aid of intrinsic light, while they
saw the PubHo Schools teaching their children that Catholics were
"deceitful," without distinction of age, clime or country. ' Catholics,
■who were more tlian triple in numbers all the other bodies together,
when they saw books put into the hands of their children which
stigmatized them as deceitful, they had no great necessity to consult
the Pope about the business. But it was not worth while to pursue
the subject further. [Great applause.]
102 ABCHBISHOP HUGHES.
PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS OF NEW YORK
FOR A PORTION OF THE COMMON
SCHOOL FUND.
TO TUB HONORABLE THE BOAKD OP ALDERMEN OP THE CITT OF
NEW TORE.
The Petition of the Catholics of New Yorlc^
Beapeotfxdly represents :
That your Petitioners yield to no class in their performance of, and dispo-
sition to perform all the duties of citizens. — They bear, and are willing to
bear, their portion of every comnion burden ; and feel themselves entitled to
a participation in every common benefit.
This participation, they regret to say, has been denied them for years back,
in reference to Common Scliool Education in the city of New York, except
on conditions with which their conscience, and, as they believe their duty
to God, did not, and do not leave them at liberty to comply.
The rights of conscience, in this country, are held by the constitution and
universal consent to be sacred and inviolate. ITo stronger evidence of this
need be adduced than the fact, that one class of citizens are exempted from
the duty or obligation of defending their country against an invading foe,
out oi delicacy and deference to the rights of conscience which forbids
them to take up arms for any purpose.
Your Petitioners only claim the benefit of this principle in regard to the
public education of their children. They regard the public education which
the State has provided as a common benefit, in which they are most desirous
and feel that they are entitled to participate ; and therefore they pray your
Honorable Body that they may be permitted to do so, without violating
their conscience..
But your Petitioners do not ask that this prayer be granted without assign-
ing their reasons for preferring it.
In ordinary cases men are not required to assign the motives of conscien-
tious scruples in matters of this kind. But your petitioners are aware that a
large, wealthy and concentrated influence is directed against their claim by
the Corporation called the Public School Society. And that this influence,
acting on a public opinion already but too much predisposed to judge unfavor-
.ibly of the claims of your petitioners, requires to be met by facts which
justify them in thus appealing to your Honorable Body, and which may, at
tlie same time, convey a more correct impression to the public mind. Your
l.etitioners adopt this course the more willingly, because the justice and im-
partiality which distinguish the decisions of public men, in this country,
inspire them with the confidence that your Honorable Body will maintain,
m their regard, the principle of the rights of conscience, if it car. be done
without violating the rights of others, and on no other condition is the claim
solicited.
PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS. 103
It is not deemed necessary to trouble your Honorable Body with a detail
of the circumstances by which the monopoly of the public education of chil-
dren in the city of New York, and of the funds provided for that purpose at
the expense of the State, have passed into the hands of a private corporation,
styled in its Act o,f Charter, " The Public School Society of the City of New
York." It is composed of men of different sects or denominations. But
that denomination, Friends, which is believed to have the controlling influ-,
enee, both by its numbers and otherwise, holds as a peculiar sectarian prin-
ciple that any formal or official teaching of religion is, at best, unprofitable.
And your petitioners have discovered that such of their children as have
attended the public schools, are generally, and at an early age, imbued with
the same principle — that they become untractable, disobedient, and even
t-.ontemptuous towards their parents — unwilling to learn any thing of religion
— as if they had become illuminated, and could receive all the knowledge of
religion necessary for them by instinct or inspiration. Your, petitioners do
not pretend to assign the cause of this change in their children, they only
attest the fact, as resulting from their attendance at the public schools of the
Public School Society.
This Society, however, is composed of gentlemen of various sects, includ-
ing even one or two Catholics. But they profess to exclude all sectarianism
from their schools. If they do pot exclude sectarianism, they are avowedly
no more entitled to the school funds than your petitioners, or any other de-
nomination of professing Christians. If- they do, as they profess, exclude
sectarianism, then your petitioners contend thafthey exclude Christianity —
and leave to the advantage, of infidelity the tendencies which are given to ■
the minds of youth by the influence of this feature and pretension of their
system.
If they could accomplish what they profess, other denominations would
join your petitioners in remonstrating against their schools. But they do
not accomplish it. Your petitioners will show your Honorable Body that
they do admit what Catholics call sectarianism, (although others may call it
only religion,) in a great variety of ways.
In their 22d report, as far back as the year 1827, they tell us, page 14, that
they "are aware of the importance of early eelioious instruotion," and
that none but what is ^ exclusively general and acripturalin its character
should he introduced into the schooU under their charge." Here, then, is
their own testimony that they did introduce and authorize "religious instruc-
tion" in their schools. And that they solved, with the utmost composure,
the difficult question on which the sects disagree, by determining what hind
of "religious instruction''^ is " exclusimly general and scriptural in its char-
acter." Neither could they impart this •' early religious instruction " them-
selves. They must have left it to their teachers — and these, armed with
official influence, could impress those " early religious instructions " on the
susceptible minds of the children, with the authority of dictators.
The Public School Society, in their report for the year 1832, page 10, de-
scribe the effect of these " early religious instructions," without, perhaps,
intending to do so ; but yet precisely as your petitioners have witnessed it,
in such of their children as attended those schools. " The age at Mich chil-
dren are usually sent to school affords a much letter opportunity to mould their
minds to peculiar and exclusive forms of faith than any subsequent period of
life."' In page 11, of the same report, they protest against the injustice of
supporting "religion in any shape" by public money ; as if the "early re-
ligious instruction" which they had themselves authorized in their schools,
five years before, was not "religion in some shape," and was not supported-
by public taxation. They tell us again, in more guarded language, " The
Trustees are deeply impressed with the importance of imbuing the youthful
104 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
mind with religious impressions, and they have endeavored to attain this
object, as far as the nature of the institution will admit." Report ot 18.37.
In their Annual Reportthey tell us, that " they would not he understood
as regarding religcious impressions in early youth as unimportant; on the
contrary, they desire to do all which may with propriety be done, to give a
right direction to the minds of the children intruSted to their care. Iheir
scliools are uniformly opened with the reading of the Scriptures, and the
class-hooks are such as recognize and enforce the great and generally acknowl-
edged principles of Christianity." Page 7. , . i. i.
In their .S4th Annual Report, for the year 1839, they pay a high compli-
ment to a deceased teacher for "the moral and religious influence exerted
by her over the three hundred girls daily attending her school, and tell us
that it could not but have had a lasting effect on many of their susceptible
minds.-' Page 7. And yet in all these " early religious instructions, religious
impressions, and religious influence,'" essentially anti-Catholic, your petition-
ers are to see nothing sectarian ; hut if in giving the education which the
State requires, they were to bring the same influences to bear on the "sus-
ceptible minds of their own children, in favor, and not against, their own
religion, then this society contends that it would be sectarian !
Your petitioners regret that there is no means of ascertaining to what
extent the teachers in the schools of thisS,ociety carried out the views of
their principals on the importance of conveying " early religious instructions"
to the " susceptible minds " of tl>eir children. But they believe it is in
their power to prove, that in some instances, the Scriptures have been ex-
■ ])lained, as well as read to the pupils.
Even the reading of the Scriptures in those schools your petition.ers cannot
regard otherwise than as sectarian ; because Protestants would certainly con-
sider as such the introduction of the Catholic 'Scriptures, which are different
from theirs, and the Catholics have the same ground of objection when the
Protestant version is' made use of.
Your petitioners liave to state further, as grounds of their conscientious
objections to those schools, that many of the selections in their elementary
reading lessons contain matter prejudicial to the Catholic name and charac-
ter. The term " Popery " is repeatedly found in them. This term is known
and employed as one of insult and contempt towards the Catholic religion,
and it passes into tlie minds of children with the feeling of which it is the
outward expression. Both the historical and religious portions of the read-
ing lessons are selected from Protestant writers, whose prejudices against
the Catholic religion render them unworthy of confidence in the mind of
your petitioners, at least so far as their own children are concerned.
The Public School Society have heretofore denied that their books con-
tained any thing reasonably objectionable to Catholics. Proofs of the con-
trary could be multiplied, but it is unnecessary, as they have recently retracted
their denial, and discovered, after fifteen years' enjoyment of their monopoly,
that their books do contain objectionable passages. But they allege tliat they
have proffered repeatedly to make such corrections as the Catholic Clergy
might require. Your petitioners conceive that such a proposal could not be
carried into effect by the Public School Society without giving just ground
for exception to other denominations. Neither can they see with what con-
sistency that Society can insist, as it has done, on the perpetuation of its
monopoly, when the Trustees thus avow their incompetency to present unex-
ceptionable books, without the aid of the Catholic, or any other Clergy.
They allege, indeed, that with the best intentions they have been unable to
ascertain the passages which might be offensive to Catholics. "With their
intentions, your petitioners cannot enter into any question. Nevertheless,
they submit to your Honorable Body, that this Society is eminently inoom-
PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS. 105
petent to the superintendence of public education, if tliey could not see tliat
the following passage was unfit for the public schools, and especially unfit to
be jilaoed in the hands of Catholic children.
Tliey will quote the passage as one instance, taken from Putnam's Sequel,
p;ige 266 :
" Huss, John, a zealous reformer from Popery, who lived in Bohemia,
t Hoards the close of the fourteentk, and heginning of the fifteenth centuries.
He was hold and persevering ; hut at length, trusting himself to the deceitful
Cathulie^. he was hy them hrought to trial, condemned as a heretic, and hurnt
at the sUil-e.''''
The Public School Society may be excused for not knowing the histori-
cal inaccuracies of this passage ; but surely assistance of the Catholic
Clergy could not have been necessary to an understanding of the words
" deceitful," as applied to all who profess the religion of your petitioners.
For these reasons, and others of the same kind, your petitioners cannot,
in conscience, and consistently with their sense of duty to God, and to
their offspring, intrust the Public School Society with the oiHce of giving
'■ aright direction to the minds of their children." And yet this Society
claims that office, and claims for the discharge of it the Common School
Funds, to which your petitioners, in common with other citizens, are con-
tributors. In so far as they are contributors, they are not only deprived
of any benefit in return, but their money is' employed to the damage and
detriment of their religion, in the minds of their own children, and of
the rising generation of the community at large. The contest is between
the guarantied rights, civil and religious, of the citizen on the one hand,
and the pretensions of the Public School Society on the other ; and whilst
it has been silently going o^ for years, your petitioners would call the
attention of your Honorable Body to its consequences on that class for
whom the benefits of public education are most essential — the children of
the poor.
This class (your petitioners speak only so far as relates to their own
denomination), after a brief experience of the schools of the Public School
Society, naturally and deservedly withdrew all confidence from it. Hence
the establishment by your petitioners of schools for the education of the
poor. The expense necessary for this, was a second taxation, required not
by the laws of the land, but by the no less imperious demands of their
conscience.
They were reduced to the alternative of seeing their children growing
up in entire ignorance, or else taxing themselves anew for private schools,
whilst the funds provided for education, and contributed in part by them-
selves, were given over to the Public School Society, and by them employed
as has been stated above.
Now your petitioners respectfully submit, that without this confidence,
no body of men can discharge the duties of education as intended by the
State, and required by the people. The Public School Society are, ind
have been at all times, conscious that they had not the confidence of the
poor. In their twenty-eighth report, they appeal to the ladies of New
York to create or procure it, by the " persuasive eloquence of female
kindness ;" page 5. And from this they pass, on the next page, to the
more efficient eloquence of coercion under penalties and privations to be
visited on all persons, " whether emigrants or otherwise," who being in the
circumstances of poverty referred to, should not send their children to
some " public or other daily school." In their twenty- seventh report,
pages 15 and 16, they plead for the doctrine, and recommend it to public
tavor by the circumstance that it will affect but " few natives." But why
should it be necessary at all, if they possessed that confidence of the poor,
106 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
without which they need never hope to succeed ? So well are they cori
vinced of this, that no longer ago than last year, they gave up all hope ot
inspiring it, and loudly call for coercion by " the strong arm of tlie cml
power " to supply its deficiency. Your petitioners will close this part ot
their statement with the expression of their surprise and regret that gen-
tlemen who are themselves indebted much to the respect which is properly
cherished for the rights of conscience, shonld be so unmindful of the same
rigiits in the case of your petitioners. Many of them are by religious
principle so pacific that they would not take up arms in the defence of
the liberties of their country, though she should call them to her aid ; and
yet, they do not hesitate to invoke the "strong arm of the civil power"
for the purpose of abridging the private liberties of their fellow-citizens,
who may feel equally conscientious.
Your petitioners have to deplore, as a consequence of this state of
things, the ignoi-ance and vice to which hundreds, nay thousands of their
children are exposed. They have to regret, alsQ, that the education which
they can provide, under the disadvantages to which they have been sub-
jected, is not as efficient as it should be. But should your Honorable
Body be pleased to designate their schools as entitled to receive a just
proportion of the public funds which belong to your petitioners in common
with other citizens, their schools could be improved for those who attend,
others now growing up in ignorance could be received, and the ends of the
Legislature could be accomplished — a result which is manifestly hopeless
under the present system.
Your petitioners will now invite the attention of your Honorable Body
to the objections and misrepresentations that have been urged by the Pub-
lic School Society to granting the claim of your petitioners. It is urged
by them that it would be appropriating money raised by general taxation
to the support of the Catholic religion. Your petitioners join issue with
them, and declare unhesitatingly, that if this objection can be established
the claim shall be forthwith abandoned. It is objected that though we
are taxed as citizens, we apply for the benefits of education as " Catholics."
Your petitioners, to remove this difBculty, beg to be considered in their
application in the identical capacity in which they are taxed — ^viz. : as citi-
zens of the commonwealth. It has been contended by the Public School
Society, that the law disqualifies schools which admit any profession of.
religion, from receiving any encouragements from the School Fund. 'Your
petitioners have two solutions for this pretended difficulty. 1. Your peti-
tioners are unable to discover any such disqualification in the law, which
merely delegates to your Honorable Body the authority and discretion of
determining what schools or societies shall be entitled to its bounty.
2. Your petitioners are willing to fulfill the conditions of the law so far as
religious teaching is proscribed during school hours. In fine, your petition-
ers, to remove all objections, are willing that the material organization of
their schools, and the disbursements of the funds allowed for them, shall
be conducted, and made, by persons unconnected with the religion of
your petitioners, even the Public School Society, if it should please your
Honorable Body to appoint them for that purpose. The public may then
be assured that the money will not be applied to the support of the Catho-
lic religion.
It is deemed necessary by your petitioners to save the Public School So-
ciety the necessity of future misconception, thus to state the things wliioh
are not petitioned for. Tlie members of that Society, who have shown
themselves so impressed with the importance of conveying tlieir notions of
" early religious instruction " to the " susceptible minds " of CathoHc children,
can have no objection that the parents of the children, and teachers in whom
PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS. 107
the parents have confidence, should do the same, provided no law is violated
thereby, and no disposition evinced to bring the children of other denomi-
nations within its influence.
Your petitioners, therefore, pray that your Honorable Body will be pleased
to designate, as among the schools entitled to participate in^ the Common
School Fund, upon complying with the requirements of the law, and the
ordinances of the corporation of the city — or for such other relief as to your
Honorable Body shall seem meet — St Patrick's School, St. Peter's School,
St. Mary's School, St. Joseph's School, St. James' School, St. Nicholas'
School, Transfiguration Church School, and St. John's School.
And your petitioners further request, in the event of your Honorable Body's
determining to hear your petitioners, on the subject of their petition, that such
time may be appointed as may be most agreeable to your Honoraljle Body,
and that a full session of your Honorable Board be convened for that purpose.
And your petitioners, &c.
THOMAS O'CONNOR,
Chairman.
GREGORY DILLON,
ANDREW CABRIGAN,
PETER DUFFY,
Vice- C/iairmen.
B. O'CONNEE,
James Kelly, J- Secretaries.
J. M'LoroHLiN,
Of a general meeting of the
Catholics of the City of New
York, convened in the school-
room of St. James' Church,
Sept. 21, 1840.
«
Meeting in the Basement of St. James's Church,
October 5th, 1840.
On Monday evening, Oct. 5th, the Catholics orthis city again
met in the basement of St. James's Church, in great numbers, by
adjournment of the meeting of that day fortnight, from -nrhich a
memorial had been sent to the Board of Aldermen, setting forth their
claim to a portion of the Common School Fund for the education
of Catholic children. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was again called
to the chair, and the Secretaries were also re-elected.
LOS AECHBISHOP HUGUES.
Jasees McKeon, Esq., one of the committee appointed to present
the memorial to the Common Council, reported that they had dis-
charged the duties assigned to them, and that it was highly probable
that an early day' ■\\ould be fixed to hear the arguments of the
Catholics and those that opposed their claim.
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then presented himself and was
received with enthusiastic plaudits. He said the question was now
in the hands of those whom the Legislature had appointed to dis-
pose of the Common School Fund ; they had presented their claim
to that body with confidence, but it was not to be supposed that
their demand would be granted without opposition ; it was not cer-
tain they would be conceded at all. Nevertheless they had taken
the only means worthy of their purpose, by applying with confi-
dence and with firmness and with determination to those having in .
the first instance the power to apply a remedy to the evil of which
Catholics complain. The question as it will define itself before that
Board, when stripped of all the mystification in which their oppo-
nents had enveloped it, was an exceedingly simple one. It will be
a question whether it was the intention of the Legislature of the
State of New York to fix on the population of this city, and to sup-
port by taxation reaching to every citizen, a system of education
from which one-fifth of the population can derive no benefit? for he
thought he might say that Catholic children formed one-fifth of those
who were subject to this taxation. And if this system is to be so
constituted, as they found it to be, that Catholics iu their con-
sciences cannot allow their children to participate in its benefits,
then the question will be were they excluded or not, by an act of
the Legislature ? It is plain they wexe not, unless indeed the Legis-
lature intended that they should p.iy for education and receive no
benefit in return. Thai the Legislature did not intend — that it could
not have intended ; and there^re between the act of the Legislature
and the schoolmaster there must be some inquiry to pervert the
stream of justice. [Applause.] The objections that have been raised
by the Public School Society are objections which sound alarmingly,
in the eaf, and which from circumstances which are easily accounted
for, are apt to turn the judguients of even well-disposed men off
their equilibrium— he alluded to the clamor of sectarianism, and that
Catholics wish Sivil money to be appropriated to the jmrposes of
religion. _ The sound was calculated to alarm, but it required only
the exercise of common sense to dissolve these objections into thin
air, for Catholics wanted no money from the State of New York for
purposes of religion, but for the purpose for which it was claimed
from them — for the purposes of education in the strict sense of the
term. The education the Catholics were told was ready — the foun-
tain flows constantly, but care was taken to dilute the current before
it reached them, so that they could not taste it. [Applause.]
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 109
They were told the doors were open to them ; they knew they
were, but if they entered they Avent in to learn to live in ignorance
of all that was sacred and honorable in the Catholic name ; if they
entered they knew it was to have Protestant persons and Protestant
writers brought up for their admiration ; it was to make their chil-
dren familiar with things that were not theirs, -and to leave them in
utter ignorance of everything Catholic, unless it was to bring them
in to grace some tragic incident and they were only brought in then
as executioners. There were some respectable Catholic writers,
though perhaps their opponents knew it not, that Avrote with flow-
ing pens in the departments of history, morals, legislation, and gen-
eral literature, but from the books put into the hands of their chil-
dren in these schools they knew it not," but they did know about
Cranmer's execution, and the betrayal by the deceitful Catholics of
John Huss ; and if it were not for the purpose of bringing them in
thus, their children would not know that Catholicism was older than
Mormonism. [Laughter.] He had been exceedingly amused on
looking at the manner the opponents of their claim maintained their
exclusive right to the money which Catholics contributed in common
with other citizens ; but with a great deal of talent and a great deal
of confidence in the prejudices of the community, to Avhich they ap-
pealed, still it was difficult for them to make out a clear case, even
to satisfy those prejudices. He would look at the system as it is.
They were told that the state intended to exclude religion and
make the fund applicable solely to civil purposes — solely to secular
education — very well. If they excluded all religion then they bring
up the children like heathens, and they banish Christianity and leave
to infidelity the whole benefit of this system of education. And he
did not think it probable that the Christians of New York — that the
Protestants of New York — would raise a fund for education from
which only infidelity could receive the benefit. That was one
ground. But then they were told again that religion was not ex-
cluded from instruction. If they then have taught religion how
have they been able to go before the Common Council and ask for
money? Had Catholics less right than the celebrated body of
Quakers ? And if the office of instructors was to be conceded at all
to whom did it belong ? Did it become Catholics to be the instruc-
tors of Protestant children, or Protestants to become the instructors
of Catholic children ? Surely if it was a crime ^t all it must be a
greater crime in the managers of the present schools than in Catho-
lics to teach religion to Catholic children ; and it was only in this
way that they could throw the whole weight of the charge of giv-
ing instruction on infidels, so that it carried water on both shoul-
ders. Before the Common Council their opponents were scrupulous
to a nicety, from a fear that its money should go to encourage and
maintain religion; but they (the Catholics) went in the name of
relio-ion and conscience which did not allow them to educate their
children in these schools ; and because they went in the name of
conscience they were told, Oh, the fund is intended for civil educa-
110 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES.
tion, and if you allow a penny to go for the support of religion, yott
violate the charter, for it says so and so. Then we (Catholics)
charge them with infidelity. And how do they answer ? They say
Catholics give religious instruction. Do they (the Trustees of the
Public Schools) not admit that they do likewise m their report ?
And that shows that they are aware of the importance of early re-
ligious instruction ; but they say that none but what is general in
its character is given under their charge ; so that while the doctors
are disputing about what is religion, the managers of these schools
have no difficulty in determining at once. It is a pity the commu-
nity does not send its difficulties to the Public School Society for
they can soon decide what religion is. Does not each sect contend
that its doctrines are purely Scriptural ? And do not the others
dispute it? But here the Trustees of the Public School Society de-
cide for them at once ; and while they contend, and contend truly,
that the State has provided that none of this money should go for
the purposes of religion, they have a religion of their own made up,
as they say, from what is Scriptura^ When Catholics go before
Council and ask for their proportion of this fund, " Oh," says the
School Society, "it is provided only for secular education." But is
that their own practice ? They have one reply for Catholics and
another for Protestants ; they have piety enough not to wish infi-
delity to ha^e the predominance, and to please the Protestants they
introduce religion— Scriptural religion as they call it — and when
Catholics find fault with them and wish to teach their own children,
they say that the introduction of religion into the schools will forfeit
all right to it, for it was not intended or designed for religious pur-
poses. In their report and remonstrance to the petition of Catho-
lics they say, " this fund is purely of a civil character." If so it
means that it is intended to teach children to read, and write, and
the mathematics ; and there is not much religion in these sciences :
but they are not so careful to abstain from rehgion, for religion is
religious instruction, and that they give in their own way and thus,
in the expenditure of this money, which is appropriated to civil
instruction, they contradict themselves ; and we shall see how they
get out of the contradiction.
They knew they had done this from the cpmmencement, and the
first sound of alarm came from themsehes. They said, " Oh, there
is so much prejudice in the community !" and if Catholics were
timid, they might be crushed down by that fear. But if there was
prejudice, let its abutments be taken away, so that nothing but
truth would remain ; and if, \vla\\e their claim was based on truth,
knowing the wrong, it was still inflicted, let it be on the record,
that the world might know that Catholics were oppressed without
any ground of oppression. [Applause.] He said this because the
gentlemen were going from one point to another in their statements
from time to time of what was the true ground on which the right
of the citizen was based. There is in this country the principle
that no man should suffer for the free exercise of his freedom of
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. Ill
conscience ; that no man should suffer, in his person or in his repu-
tation, though the liw cannot arrest the pen of the bigotted slan-
derer, yet that is the spirit of the law that no man shall be tempo-
rarily held accountable for those things which relate to his eternal
destiny, for they were things between man and his God, and there-
fore the rights of conscience were sacred and inviolate. Bat if that
were the case, how can it be insisted on that Catholics shall violate
their rights of conscience at the risk of eternal consequences ? How
could it be pretended that Catholics could submit to a system about
which they were not consulted ? And how was it that the support-
ers of the existing system could insist that Catholics were wrong,
and that they were right ? Now, since conscience cannot be bent
or modified to suit the system. Catholics hoped to cause such a
modification of the system that it would suit the consciences of all.
[Applause.] That was the ground on which Catholics stood. But
they were told that Catholics held it to be an essential part of edu-
cation that the Catholic religion and dogmas should be taught.
They knew that schools were supported by the State- for the pur-
pose of imparting that part of secular knowledge that would be ad-
vantageous. But they did not believe it was designed by the State
to establish a system of teaching by which all that was good would
be extinguished in the process. They did not desire the public
money to be expended in the teaching of their dogmas, but they
also did not wish to see it expended in th6 support of a system by
which the bud of faith would be nipped which was springing up in
the hearts of Catholic children. But then they were told that Cath-
olics might teach their children after school hours, and on the sev-
enth day. But, after six days' teaching in these schools, every one
must be well aware how feeble will be the impressions of religion ;
how feeble will be the instructions of the pastor to a child that has
imbibed the prejudices which the lessons of the school were calcu-
lated to create ; how feeble would be the admonition ; how feeble
the inculcation of the dogmas of their faith, when the child was
already biased against it by the lessons he was taught, by the asso-
ciations to which he was exposed, and by the lectures of the
teachers on the elucidation of the school lessons. Why, the child
■would be found to be half a Protestant before he was half a
scholar.
But then they were told that if this money were given to Cath-
olics, every other denomination would look for it too. And if they
did, he did not see that any great harm would result from it. If
any other denomination had the same scruples of conscience, he
should say immediately they were entitled to it ; but it did not ap-
pear that they had. They had proof in the remonstrances that were
sent in against the claim made by the Catholics, that they approved
of the present school system. They were satisfied with the system,
and their scholars were attending under it, while the children of
Catholics did not attend ; so that, by conceding the claim of the
Catholics, they, would have the same schools as before, with this
112 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
difference, that the children of Catholics that were no-pr without
education, or but partially educated, would have a chance, and the
ends of the Legislature would be carried out. But suppose it
would have the effect of breaking up the system, he did, not think
any great calamity would be produced by such a result, or any
great suffering or disaster to the country or to the community. But
the evils had been magnified, and in the pamphlet which had been
published they had spoken of the bickerings that would be pursued
^and they knew what they had been in other countries — that it
Avould lead to contention and strife, and civil war and bloodshed.
Well, but this fund was once divided, and there were no such con-
sequences. It should be a part of education in America, that men
should know the rights of conscience of others, and that they should
learn to respect them. But when they gather children of all de-
nominations together into these Common Schools, and under pre-
tence that if they are not so taught, they are liable to fight in
the street Avhen they meet, they lay down a principle different from
that inculcated as a par.t of the system. If they are taught tolei'^a-
tion — if they are taught that all men are not born to think alike —
that there are thousands of subjects on which they may differ, and
that religion is one on which they are not only at liberty, but are
justified and above all censure in fulfilling the dictates of their con-
sciences, then they grow up with a spirit of tolerance to others with
whom, when they are men, they have to mingle, and who differ -in
opinion from them. But when these principles of the schools are
insisted upon, is it not in fact proclaiming to their children, " Be-
ware of religion, or you will all get to quarrelling " — [laughter] — it
is not to be introduced, or you will get to civil war a-nd bloodshed,
as they did in Germany when they got into a thirty years' war 1
But thus it was with the public School Society ; they had not one
solid ground to take against the claim which the Catholics made.
But, to avoid any difficulty, the Catholics said, Give us our books
and teachefs in whom we have confidence, and let the School
Society itself be the guardian of our schools, and see that the money
be faithfully appropriated, and such instruction given as would
qualify the children to be good citizens ; and then, when their minds
and their intellects were stored and trained, and knowing their duty
to God and to their fellow-men, then it was they would have the
prospect of their children being good, and virtuous, and respect-
able citizens. So that, putting aside all these difficulties, the
question would present itself naturally and necessarily before the
Common Council and simply on these grounds: Were Catho-
lics, against their convictions, to be compelled to support and sub-
mit to a system which suited those gentlemen (the School Society),
who were not Catholics, and who had scarcely a feeling on this par-
ticular subject in conimon with Catholics ? Were they to insist
upon Catholics paying a tax from which, in the exercise of the
guaranteed rights of conscience, they could receive no benefit ? Or
were they prepared to relieve Catholics from the tax ? Or in a
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 113
word, if they will compel Catholics to pay the tax, seeing the diffi-
culties that exist, will they give to Catholics their proportion of the
money which the Legislature has set apart for that purpose ? The
question r^^uces itself to these simple jjoints : Free Catholics from
taxation for schools of any description, and they would stand ready
vith the money thus saved to help their own schools, and to devote
it to education amongst themselves. But if not, and it would be
impracticable, for no denomination could be exempted from a gen-
eral taxation. In the next place, would they allow Catholics to
have the benefit of education, without the necessity of violating
their consciences ; and if they would not, then there was no alterna-
tive ; they were Catholics, and it was a pity that their consciences
would not allow them to enjoy the system which suited others ; but
they were Catholics, and their consciences were not to be respected.
It would be impossible, on any other ground, to tteny their rights.
It might not be couched in that language, but it would be that in
substance : it could not be otherwise. Catholics were anxious for
education; and while the managers of these schools pretend that
they will give the education, what is the fact ? It is obvious, be-
fore their eyes, that where schools are open, and teachers are ready,
and money is expended, there are hundreds and thousands growing
up in the condition which the Legislature wished to remove. If
they are willing to educate Catholic children, why not show their
willingness ? If they were animated by a ijatriotic spirit, would
they not yield a little to what they call the prejudices of Catholics,
but which Catholics know to be right, to be the love of truth?
But those men would rather leave hundreds and thousands in per-
manent ignorance, than that one tile should be removed from those
palaces which they have built for their o\\-n children. That was the
condition of the question at this time. What would be the decision
of the tribunal before which it had to be discussed and decided
they knew not. They had reason to hope that it would be a just
one, a conscientious one, and a liberal one; bnt at the same time no
explanation, no pleading, no specious exertions on the subject could
ever reconcile them to a system which had done so much to destroy
their enjoyment of their religious rights as this has done. It was in
vain to say " amend the books ;" for if they were permitted to do it
this year by courtesy, next year there might be put in a set of cor-
porators that would put in again what they now took out. What
was courtesy? Why, they (the Catholics) might sit in judgment
on the books, and perhaps, when they had corrected them, their
corrections might be again corrected, and the books left as they
were before. What security, then could be given to Catholics for
the enjoyment of their rights ? And while their rights were denied
on grounds on which CathoHcs did not pretend to establish them ;
while it was pretended before the Council that Catholics would
teach religion, and therefore were disqualified, they did that them-
selves which they said they expected Catholics would do, and for
which they opposed the Catholic claim. They have introduced
114 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
religion, and it was impossible they could escape from the position
of adopting a cold water religion in theory, and yet in practice incul-
cating a religion to suit their own ideas in these schools. As well
and as lawfully might they adopt a system of education supported
by the State, which should recognize the system of any one denom-
ination, and disavow all other denominations. They told Catholics
they did not teach any particular religion ; then they had better
teach none at all, for any religion they could teach was far opposed
to that of Catholics, who did not recognize them as men fit to go
into the pulpit and teach their children. Let them teach those by
whom they were recognized as teachers, but not the children of
Catholics. He had made these remarks, as it were, as a kind of
brief review of the whole ground on which the question stood, so
that it might remain fixed on the mind of every one of them as a
simple point. The Catholics asked for nothing but what was their
right, and what was- just ; and if there was any other lightby which
it could be shown that their claim was unjust and not right, they
should have no disposition to prosecute it. But in the absence of
such conviction, they could not but feel, if their right was still
withheld from them, that it could be but for one reason, and that
was, that Protestant prejudice was more powerful than truth and
justice. [Applause.] But he feared not the issue. The question
had made great progress since it w&s elucidated by their public dis-
cussions, and now scarcely a man that he had spoken to, that was
competent to judge on the subject, that did not say, " Sir, you are
right ; there can be no objection to the concession of your claim."
But he knew there was in the less intellectual portion of the com-
munity a substratum of prejudice. He was aware, however, that
this was not the case among the enlightened and the liberal — among
men of high, and just, and enlarged, and patriotic views — and it
was from these that public opinion was alone worth accepting.
[Great and long-continued applause.]
Meeting in the Basement of St. James's Church,
October 19th, 1840.
An adjourned meeting of the Catholics was held in the basement
of St. James's Church on Monday evening, Oct. 19th, when the
officers of previous meetings were re-elected. The Right Rev.
Bishop Hughes was received on his entrance with the warmest ex-
pression of affectionate regard.
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes came forward amidst great and
general plaudits. He commenced by observing that there was no-
thing to alarm them in the conclusion at which some seem already
to have arrived, or respecting the course to be pursued by the tri-
bunal before which they had laid claim. There was nothino- in it to
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 115
alarm, and for himself there was nothing to surprise, because he had
obser^ ed as they had progressed on this question, and whilst they
had made some inroad on the advanced posts of pubUe opinion, here
and there, that the concentrated and monopolizing power which was
opposed to them had been gathering its strength, and had been pre-
paring to exert it to the utmost. They (the School Society) feel as
if the charm should be broken, the dazzling prospect on which their
eye had rested so long with complacency, the prospect of having
seventy thousand children for a few years longer to be moulded at
t*heir discretion, and of having a larger number — even hundreds of
thousands of dollars for the purpose of so moulding them, Avould
disappear from before them. Such a dazzling prospect as this was
enough to tempt men of their f)hiIanthropy to cling to the system
and that they do cling to it they were assured, for, counting on that
futurity they had multiplied schools, and they had not only rnulti-
plied schools but they had built other and more splendid edifices — •
he scarcely knew what to call them —
Mr. O'Connor (chairman) — Sessions houses.
The Bishop. Yes, sessions houses, for the purpose of legislating
into all future time for the education of the children of the citizens
of New York. This was evidence that they did count on this long
futurity of domination, and therefore it was not surprising that they
should cling with such tenacity to its perpetuation.
Now it had been his duty to examine the books used in these
schools, and whatever might be said hereafter, notwithstanding all
that they had printed, or all that they had authorized to be printed
by the Board of Assistant Aldermen, that there was nothing in their
books against which the Catholics could have any reasonable objec-
tion, he, in an examination of the books to ascertain whether that
statement was founded in truth, had found many things against
which Catholics had reasonable objections. But laying that aside,
while Catholics formed one-fifth portion of the citizens whose chil-
dren were to be l^ught in these schools, from the first to the last
their books did not contain a solitary sentence upon Catholic affairs,
nor one line from Catholic authors — not one sentence, not one essay
on morals, not one chapter of history, not one section of geography,
not a single line from the beginning to the end, as if CathoUcs from
the beginning of creation had been men who had not known how to
wield the pen, or to arrange ideas in a proper manner. And not
only was this the fact, not only was there this suppression — for he
might call it the suppression of the truth — and it was the suppression
of the brightest trait in their character, which would affect the mind
of their children, attach them to the creed of their fathefs, and make
them not ashamed of a creed which had produced some of the
brightest ornaments that ever did honor to human nature ; indepen-
dent of that science, he had in his hand a dialogue used in these
schools for the purpose of teaching their children to read, and to
practice them in elocution. It was a dialogue between Cortez the
conqueror of Mexico, and William Penn. both founders of colonies^
116 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES,
on the use of the sword, and the more honorable means of defence
for the colonies. They discuss the principles on which the colonies
were established, and then Coetbz says :
" It is blasphemy to say, that any folly could come from the fountain of wisdom.
Whatever is inconsistent with the great laws of nature, and with the necessary
state of human society, cannot possibly have been inspired by God. Self-defence
is as necessary to nations as to men. And shall particulars have a right which
nations have not ? True religion, William Penn, is the perfection of reason. Fa-
naticism is the disgrace, the destruction of reason.
Penn says, " Though what thou sayest should be true, it does not come well
from thy mouth. A Papist talk of reason I Go to the inquisition and tell them
of reason and the great laws of nature. They will broil thee as thy soldiers broiled
the unhappy Guatimozin I Why dost thou turn pale ? Is it at the name of the
inquisition, or the name of Guatimozin ? Tremble and shake when thou thinkest,
that every murder the inquisitors have committed, every torture they have inflicted
on the innocent Indians, is originally owing to thee. Thou must answer to God for
all their inhumanity, for all their injustice."
"^ Papist talk of reason /" There was a lesson for Catholic chil-
dren ; and yet the School Trustees, through the Assistant Aldermen,
told them there was really nothing in their books against which
they ought to have the least objection. Yes, they would impress the
minds of their children that Catholics are necessarily, morally, intel-
lectually, infallibly, a stupid race. Now he should like to know
what reason they had to give, in the introduction of their writers —
Robertson, Hume, and others — what reason they could have, when
they knew there were such a multitude of Catholic writers, to sup-
press even* the least occasional mention of Catholic writers. Was it
because Catholics had no men who had labored in the fields of science
to improve the human mind ? Now, though it might be a secret
to those gentlemen, there was no department of history or philoso-
phy in which the mind of a Catholic had not taken the lead ; and
the time was when they found the Catholic arm the strongest in
pushmg the Sun of Science up the heavens. Who had produced
works of theology like theirs (the Catholicai? In philosophy,
whether of mmd or matter, where were the books which for depth
of research, or extent of knowledge, equaled or approached the
mighty tomes produced by Catholics ? And at the period when
ancient civihzation was destroyed, when the edifice crumbled under
the mighty stroke of the Goth and the Hun, and when society was
dissolved, they found Catholic minds presiding over its recon-
struction, laying its foundations broad and deep, and doing every-,
thing calculated to improve the public mind. Who reduced a mass
^ rude characters into letters which we now call our alphabet?
W ft« i!. Jf T^"' "^ " thus gave a language to Europe by establish-
.Yig Its basis. Nay, more, after that, who introduced that most im-
portant branch of civilization, agriculture? It was the monks, by
whose industry and labor the reclaimed wastes became the " model
farms" of Europe, and from them agriculture spread
They heard much of free government and of Parliaments but was
that a Protestant invention ? No, it was a Catholic Tnven'tion;Z
THE SCHOOL QUESTlOISr. 117
it was copied from the Catholic Church. The first models of repre-
sentative government, and of dignified and noble parliaments, were
the councils of the Catholic Church, in which every part of that
church had its representative. Thence, then, the idea was borrowed,
w^hich has been the pride and boast of England and of this country
after her, of representative government. But he might speak also
of navigation. Who discovered the continent on which they now
lived ? Was it not a Catholic ? Who made the second voyage to
this continent, and stamped his name upon it ? Was it not a Cath-
olic ? — Americus Vespucius. Who made the first voyage round the
globe ? Was it not a Catholic ? And Catholics were the first to
visit both the East and the West Indies ; they traversed seas to
carry the knowledge of Jesus Christ to the ignorant, and they then
became acquainted with the physical position of diflfevent countries,
and they conveyed that knowledge to the world either in letters or
other documents, and added a mass of human knowledge which had
assumed a gigantic size before Protestantism first sprung out of the
earth. And while things of a less beneficial tendency were going
on in other parts of the globe, Catholic missionaries, 200 years ago,
penetrated this country and continued a chain round from Quebec to
the Mississippi. While persecution was going on in the North and
the South, with which Catholics had nothing to do, their free banner
waved over Maryland, where the rights of conscience were recog-
. nized. They went to the Indians, not to destroy but to convert, to
save, and civilize. And if we turn our eyes from these things to
others, we shall see those things which are calculated to reflect
honor on those who effected their accomplishment. When we see
the alleviation of the infirmities of human life, we naturally ask our-
sehes to whom the world was indebted for the act of mercy. Who
planned the structures and laid the foundation of those hospitals for
the afflicted, and asylums for the decrepid, aged, and the young and
exposed infant ? Were they not all introduced and established by
the benevolent spirits and the enlightened minds of the Catholics of
antiqiiity ? Turn your minds to other structures, and then ask who
laid the foundations of the universities ? Who originated the idea ?
Wlio .aided their establishment ? It was Catholics alone; and if
you blot out the benevolent institutions with which the earth is still
studded, for which the world is indebted to Catholics, you will
find but a few insignificant ones remaining. If you turn again from
these things to the men distinguished by their own intellect — to
warriors and legislators — to men distinguished by their eloquence,
by their scientific attainments, in jurisprudence, or in other stations
in public-life, where do you find models worthier of imitation than
those by whom the pages of Catholic history are adorned. Passing
again from these to the ornaments of ancient literature, of classic
(jreece and Rome, and while desolation and barbarism passed over
Europe with their trains of evils, who, by patient, persevering in-
dustry, gathered up the fragments of ancient literature to adorn the
human mind ? It was done by the labor of the calumniated monks.
118 AECHBISHOP HtTGHES.
Tos, you may turn your eyes on whatever side you please, and you
will find that Catholics have nothing of which to be ashamed. You
will find no reason for the suppression of all these things with which
Catholics can charge themselves, but you will find in every depart-
ment, if you take away the volumes Catholics have written, and the
mighty libraries they have collected, your shelves will_ present a
barren appearance. Why, we have the testimony of eniinent Prot-
estant scholars themselves, attesting the fact that one single order
alone — the order of Benedictines— did more than all the Protestants
togethei-. In every species of knowledge— in history, jurisprudence,
and canonical and civil law— in a word, in everything appertaining
to human knowledge, it was found that the great predominance
was due to Catholic labor and Catholic success ; and why then did
they not find one page to adorn these school-books from authors
like these. Again, where are there poets like Catholic poets?
Take from England the works of Catholic writers : take away her
Chaucer, and Spenser, and Shakspeare, and Dryden, and Pope, and
yo\i take away the cream of English literature. Then, if they
turned their minds from these things to others not so immediately
essential to the cultivation, but to the adornment of human life^
take the study of the mathematics — and who was the first to culti-
vate that study in the west of Europe ? Who invented and arrayed,
and introduced that science but the Monk Jerbert, afterwards Pope
Sylvester II. ; the same who introduced the first celestial globes.
Then, again, in architecture and its application to the construction
of bridges, which at one period of European history could not be
constructed without calling in the aid of some learned man from a
distant country, who was usually some humble monk who knew
how to throw the daring arch, to span the river, or to cross the other-
wise impassable valley. Take away from England even the archi-
tectural structures left by Catholics, and what would remain ? —
scarcely anything. Oxford would disappear, and the greater part
of Cambridge, and nothing would be left but St. Paul's, of which
Lord Kingsbury said, after seeing St. Peter's, it was scarcely fit for
anything but to be blown up by gunpowder. If they turned from
these things to inventions, they might ask, who invented the art of
printing ? A Catholic. Who originated that by which information
was sent round through every village and hamlet — the post-office?
A Catholic. Who invented the clock to tell what time of day it was ?
A Catholic. Wlio invented the compass to guide the mariner across
the trackless ocean ? A Catholic? What is it that Catholics have
not done? And if this is the history of this people, why was it
that these teachers despised them ? and why was it that not a line
fi-om Catholic authors was permitted in their books? And they
jiretended to be all impartiality and to possess feelings of the most
liberal and philanthropic character. But turn away from this again
to another thing. There are afflictions resting on the children of
sorrow, some of whom are deprived of sight, and the sunbeam falls
fo the earth in vain for them. Now it was a work of benevolence
THE SCHOOL QtrKSTION. 119
to discover eyes for these children of sorrow, and to place them at
the end of their fingers ; or, in other words, to enable them, by run-
ning their fingers over raised characters, to read with rapidity ; and
it is to a Catholic that the invention is to be attributed. Again,
there is another class, the deaf and dumb, who can neither hear nor
speak. Now, happily for them, there is an invention, which ema-
nated from a benevolent heart, by which they can communicate
thought, and for this they are indebted to a Catholic priest. The
language for the deaf and dumb was the invention of the Abbe
Ponza, a Benedictine of Spain.
Now if these gentlemen of the Public Schools would place Catho-
lics under a dark cloud, he saw no reason why they should not
penetrate that cloud, and cause some of the rays of their former
glory to return to them. It was then again the Abbe L'Eppe, who
on visiting two sisters thus afllicted, as a man of God, was himself
afflicted that he could not communicate to them the Chri^ian Reli-
gion. He began to move by signs, and continued to improve on his
attempt, until at Mngth he acquired the means of communicating
with the deaf and dumb with ease and rapidity.
Who was the founder of Sunday-schools ? It was Saint Charles
Borromeo — a Catholic. In a word, there is no department of
knowledge in which Catholics have not been distinguished. But to
go further, who discovered a quicker means of communication than
the railroad ? , It was not used so extensively in this country as in
some others, but it might be important even here, if an invasion
should be made of any part of our coast, to communicate information
to Washington and reeeiAe an answer back in less time than it could
be done by railroads. He would deserve a prize who should invent'
the means of sending information from Niagara to Washington and
receiving an answer back in six or seven hours. And yet the equiva-
lent of this had been done by a Catholic priest who invented the
telegraph. [Applause.] If they turned to music, who had brought
it to its present state by the perfection of instrumental music?
Who had taught the canvas to speak ? And who had given life and
animation to the cold marble ? Catholics. And all the boasted
superiority of Protestants was yet an infinite distance from the pro-
ductions of Catholics, and they Avere proud to distraction if they
succeeded in producing a tolerable copy of that which Catholics had
invented. [Applause.] He had thus endeavored to claim for Ca-
tholics that to which they were confessedly entitled. The gentle-
men of the public schools had not treated them fairly or honorably,
when they had thought proper to fill their pages for the instruction
of their children, from Hume and Robertson, and other Protestant
writers who were all opposed to the Catholics, and not given one
sentence from Catholic authors. But he would go now to another
point. They had said that there was nothing in their books to
which Catholics could object. Why, in the most delicate manner
[laughter] they teach that the ceremonies of the Catholic religion are
the remnants of idolatry — so slyly and so gently is it introduced,
120 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
[Laughter.] In " Conversations on Common Things," which were
used as reading lessons for their children, there occurred the tollow-
ing passages :
" D. What 13 frankincense ? it was burned in the Catholic church the day I was
there ; I suppose it is a kind of gum ? , ,„„„„
" M. It is an odoriferous substance, consisting of equal quantities ot ^mmy
and resinous particles : it is collected in a very impure state, and rednea alter
importation. We have the gum from Mount Lebanon and Arabia, also in great
quantities from the western coast of Africa. It was formerly burnt in all temples
of worship, and many Christians were put to death by the idolatrous Jews and Ro-
mans, for refusing to burn it before idols."
They would see the connection which children, whether Catholics
or Protestants, after reading this lesson would ever associate m their
minds. They would never see frankincense without associatmg
therewith the putting to death of Christians by " the idolatrous Jews
and Romans, for refusing to burn it before idols." But take an-
other. They had now, after the assertion of these gentlemen that
they did not teach religion, the proclamation that Catholics ought
not to be allowed any portion of this money because they would
teach religion. Now they were told that . the teachers were not
allowed to give instruction in religion by way of explanation of the
reading lessons, but they had a sermon printed at the end of the
text, and svch a sermon. [Laughter.] The book entitled " Popular
Lessons" contained a chapter on " The Ten Virgins," and the mys-
terous words in that lesson were explained to the children at the
end of the chapter imder the title of "explanations." T4ie first
word explained was the word " parable ;" and this was the explana-
tion, " A parable is sometimes called a comparison ; it shows one
thing or circumstance to resemble some other." [Laughter.] The
next was the word " virgins ;" and what did they suppose that
meant? " immarried women," according to the Public Schools.
[Laughter.] After some other explanations they go on to the word
" marriage," and here is the explanation :
" Marrinr/r, — When a man and woman agree to live together all their lives, and
to be called Husband and Wife, their agreement is called marriage. The wife takes
her husband's name, and goes to his house ; and whatever belongs to one of them
belongs to the other also.
" When the man takes the woman for his wife, the ceremony of the occasion is
called a weddinr/. At weddings, the friends of the couple to be married often as-
semble, and most commonly the company are very merry and happy together.
The marriage ceremony is different in different countries, and among people of
different sects."
But here was another, and he confessed he considered it of a
much more serious character. It was a chapter introduced for the
instruction of their children on " The Character of Christ." Now
those gentlemen, of all the men he ever knew, were, to his mind, the
most inconsistent, and yet the most complacent in their inconsistency.
They were first told that those gentlemen, did not teach religion in
their schools; and then again, oh yes, they said, we do, but it is the
morality of all sects — a kind of religion which all agree in, so that
nobody is offended. [Laughter.] Now here was a chapter from
THE SCHOOL QUESTION, 121
tlie Bishop of London, from wliich these men would teach their
(Catholic) children the character of Jesus Christ. He would read
a passage, and if Rosseau or Voltaire would not give a character
more worthy of him, he did not know what they could write. It
was certainly all panegyric, but still it suppressed the true part of
his character, while it shoirtfed that he was not a Philosopher like
Socrates, nor a Prophet like Mahomet.
" lie was not^ only free from every failing, but he possessed and practiced every
imaginable virtue. Towards his heavenly Father he expressed the most ardent
love, tlie most fervent, yet rational devotion ; and displayed in his whole conduct
the most absolute resignation to his •will, and obedience to his, commands.
" His manners were gentle, mild, condescending, and gracious ; his lieart over-
flowed with kindness, compassion and tenderness to the whole human race. The
grpat employment of his life, was to do good to the bodies and souls of men. In
this all his thoughts, and all his time were constantly and almost incessantly
occupied.
" He went about, disposing his blessings to all around him, in a thousand dif-
ferent ways; healing diseases, relieving infirmities, correcting errors, removing
prejudices, promoting piety, justice, charity, peace, and harmony ; and crowding
into the narrow compass of his ministry, more acts of mercy and compassion, than
the longest life of the most benevolent man upon earth ever yet produced.
" Over his own passions he had the most complete command ; and though his
patience was continually put to the severest trials, yet he was never overcome,
never betrayed into any intemperance or excess, in word or deed ; ' never once
spake unadvisedly with his lips.'
" He endured the crudest insults from his enemies, with the utmost composure,
meekness, patience, and resignation ; displayed astonishing fortitude under the
most painful and ignominous death ; and to crown all, in the very midst of his tor-
ments on the cross, implored forgiveness for his murderers, in that divinely chari-
table prayer, ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'
"' Nor was his wisdom inferior to his virtues. The doctrines he taught were the
most sublime, and the most important, that were ever before delivered to mankind ;
and every way worthy of that God from whom he professed to derive them, and
whose Son he declared himself to be.
" His precepts inculcated the purest and most perfect morality ; his discourses
were full of dignity and wisdom, yet intelligible and clear ; his parables conveyed
instruction in the most pleasing, familiar, and impressive manner ; and his answers
to the many insidious questions that were put to him, showed uncommon quickness
of conception, soundness of judgment and presence of mind ; completely baflied all
the artifices and malice of his enemies ; and enabled him to elude all the snares
that were laid for him'.
" From this short and imperfecl sketch of our Saviour's character, it is eviden*-
that he was, beyond comparison, the wisest and the most virtuous person that ever
appeared in the world."
" His answers to the many insidious questions that were put to
hims, showed uncommon quickness of conception, ! — soundness of judg-
ment! and -presence of mind!" and so forth. Now he asked if that
was not a very liberal admission in favor of their blessed Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. He asked if a deist or an atheist could be
found in New York who would not give him the character which
these gentlemen would introduce to their children, and which would
almost degi'ade him to the condition of the Philosophers of Greece.
They praise him ! But it is with language the most insidious. They
give him credit for eluding all the snares of his enemies, but it is as
though they said, Snares were laid for him by his enemies, but he
122 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES.
was too cute for them. [Laughter.] And yet these men pretend
that they, and they alone, ought to monopolize the direction of the
mind of infancy. They pretend thalt they alone should take the con-
tribution of Catholics for so noble a purpose as that of education ;
become the guardians and directors of Catholic children ; and that
they alone are fitted to guard the heart, Vl^eh is of infinitely greater
importance than the welfare of the body.
These, then, were the men Avho were laboring to prove that there
was not any single denomination of Christians from which a Board
could be formed that was worthy to be confided in._ But he would
like to know if there was not a Christian denomination to be found
from which a Board could .be formed of equal respectability with
those gentlemen, and he did not wish to detract from their character.
It was a libel on the men Avho were conscientious in other faiths to
intimate that they were less capable or less honest than they (the
School Trustees). What reason, then, could be given for the interpo-
sition of these gentlemen between Catholics and their children ? for
claiming the right to extort on the one hand the expense of the edu-
cation, and then its administration, and in its administration to dilute
and render it good for nothing ? For himself, he had no care in
this matter ; but for the children of Catholics, as their Bishop, and
therefore their spiritual parent and protector, he had a conscientious
duty to discharge in the protection and vindication of their princi-
ples and their rights. He cared less for the money than for their
rights and principles. [Applause.] And what he said for Catholics
to-day, he would say for the Lutheran or the Quaker to-morrow, if
they had the same conscientious scrujDles. There was no law-
there could be no law in this country under any pretext, that could
compel them to violate the rights of conscience, whereby the very
existence of society itself in this country depends. He repeated,
as a matter of money, it was not so much a matter of importance,' as
it was as a matter of principle ; and for the Catholics, he proclaimed
it to the world, that as regarded tl\e Public Schools, there was an
end of all connection with them — The Uniox is Repealed.
[Great applause.] Wliat, then, was their future course ? It was that
they were obliged to do henceforward as they had done heretofore —
to educate their own children, after paying into the common treasury
the expense of doing so. They thereby saved their children's prin-
ciples, and if the gentlemen of the Public Schools deemed it any
glory to take the money of the Catholics, poor as many of them
were, and appropriate it to a partial system from which the Catho-
lics were excluded, let them enjoy the unenvied glory of doing so,;
but a conquest over their principles those gentlemen would not
obtain. [Applause.]
It remained, then, for them (the Catholics), to unite in soul in pro-
portion to the tenacity of purpose with which the School Society
cling to the existing system; and to show those gentlemen with
what perseverance and firmness they were determined not to submit
to injuries. So far as it depended on them (the Catholics), those
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 123
gentlemen would find no acquiescence in a system, which, in the
conscience and judgment of every impartial man could not merit
approbation. They (the Catholics) had to develop their position to
the world, and to explain to the community at large the bearing of
this system upon them, for there were multitudes that did not com-
prehend it, and who saw nothing in it affecting their own religion'
to induce them to examine it. But when Catholics showed how it
pressed unequally on them, and on the principles of justice, on their
freedom of conscience, and on the liberty which they ought to possess
to give instruction to their own children, they would find friends and
supporters among those who had no sympathy with their religion.
He conceived it could not be otherwise. But all he begged of the
Public Council of the Board of Aldermen, was to treat them with
candor and frankness, and at once say yes, or no. This was all they
expected — as a matter of favor to be conferred on them, they did not
ask it, they claimed it as a right for which they had many prece-
dents. In Ireland the Presbyterians objected to the system pursued
by the British Government, and that government consulted those
objections to remove them ; and he would say, glory to those Pres-
byterians for stating their scruples.
Again, look at Lowell in their own country. The Catholics there
being unwilling to place their children under a system which they
conceived operated against their consciences, made known their ob-
jections to the superintendents of those schools ; and those superin-
tendents, on becoming acquainted with the facts, being themselves
men of education, without any desire to encroach on the rights, or
to get the shavings of the consciences of others — [laughter] — said to
the Catholics, Establish your own schools, select your own teachers,
and we will pay for them, provided you give education, for education
is what we want. IS'ow, cannot these men do that here, instead of
pursuing the course which they have pursued hitherto ? But if, on
the contrary, they say, Keep quiet, we know who you are, we will
tell them we are not afraid : the time when Penn told Cortez Catho-
lics could not reason, has gone by ; and now Cathohcs can reason ;
and when they were made to bear burdens which pressed more
heavily than was fair, and reasonable, and right, they would
tell those gentlemen that they would not submit to it. [Great
applause.]
There was one other subject to which it was his desire to call the
attention of the meeting. It was in reference to the opportunity to
be afforded them of stating their grievances to the Board of Alder-
men. It had been suggested to him by a gentleman very deeply in-
terested in the success of this question, that it might not be expedi-
ent for him (the Bishop) to appear in such a place on such an occa-
sion, for it was possible that some language might be used towards
him, which, though he might bear it with patience, might be painful
to others. On this question, he had replied, he was willing to give
up his own opinion, but at the same time he stated that he had no
apprehension of anything of that kind, or if anything of the sort
124 _ ABCHBISHOP HUGHES
should occur, it would have no effect on him personally, or on his
feelings. But he had no apprehensions on the subject, either on
questions of propriety or any other.
He, however, had considered whether he should not there be out
of place^and whether even in meetings like the present he was not;
but so vital and important did he consider the question, that he con-
ceived he could not be anywhere more in keeping with his character
as a bishop, than when lie stood before them, pleading the cause
of the poor and the oppressed. [Great applause.] And so near
was the question to his heart that he could bear insult from morning
till night. [Renewed applause.] Insult would have no other effect
on him than to make him cling still closer to that principle which
was to be acted upon in a few days, but the effect of which was to
be felt through years and years, through ages and ages, through
generations and generations, till the world shall be no more.
[Cheers.] For such a question he might venture to the farthest
boundaries of propriety — to the farthest limits which propriety
would allow a bishop to go. He was, howeVei', willing to submit
his opinion to the meeting. He should not consider himself out of
place there ; and he had nothing to dread on that occasion. [Great
applause.] He then passed a high eulogium on the character of
Mr. Francis Cooper, and on his firmness in refusing to take the oaths
prescribed for members of the Legislature, and when he conceived
them contrary to the right of conscience, and concluded by pro-
posing the addition of that gentleman to the committee deputed to
wait on the Board of Aldermen, to state the ground of their claim —
an addition which he considered valuable, inasmuch as Mr. Cooper
was familiar with the subject, having been himself connected with
the CommoB. School System.
SPEECH BEPOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 125
BISHOP HUGHES' GREAT SPEECHES
ON THE CLAIM OF THE CATHOLICS TO* A PORTION OF THE
COMMON SCHOOL FUND, BEFORE THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN
OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ON THURSDAY akd' FRIDAY,
THE 29th and 30iii OCTOBER, 1840.
On Thursday, the 39th October, 1840, the Board of Aldermen met m
special session, for the purpose of hearing the arguments of the Catholics
in favor of their claim to a separate portion of the Common School Fund,
and the School Society, and the Societies of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in opposition. The Board of Assistant Aldermen was present, by
invitation of the Board of Aldermen, to hear the discussion. The deep
interest which was felt in the question by the community generally was
exhibited by the dense crowd which filled the spacious halls long before
the doors of the Council Chamber were thrown open, and by the anx-
ious solicitude which was manifested to hear the debate.
Some time elapsed before the Aldermen and the gentlemen who were to
take part in the proceedings could obtain a passage through the mass of
human beings that struggled for admission, even with the aid of a body
of police officers, and great numbers of individuals were ultimately unable
to gain admission.
When the Board became organized, and some points of form had been
determined, it was agreed to hear the parties in the order in which their
I)etitions or remonstrances had been received by the Council — viz., first
the Catholics, then the Public School Society, and lastly the Societies of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, which were respectively represented by
the following Committees and Counsel : — The Catholics, by the Right Rev.
Bishop Hughes, the Very Rev. Dr. Power, Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Francis
Cooper, Esq., Dr. Hugh Sweeney, James McKeon, Esq., and James Kelly,
Esq. ; the School Society, by Theodore Sedgwick, Esq., and Hiram
Ketchum, Esq. ; the Methodist Episcopal Churches, by the Revs. Dr.
Bangs, Dr. Bond, and George Peck.
Before entering on the discussion, the reading of the petition of the
Catholics and the remonstrances from the other Societies here represented,
was called by the Alderman of the Sixteenth "Ward, and they were road
accordingly by Mr. John Paulding, the Reader to the Board.
126 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then rose to address the Board in behalf of
th3 Catholics, and spoke as follows:
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, — Unaccustomed as I am to address a
body of gentlemen such as "l see here before me, I may not always be correct
in the manner of my address : I hope, therefore, that any mistakes of mine
may be imputed by this Honorable Board to my inexperience. I would also,
on the threshold of the subject, observe, that in no part of the discussion on
this question, so far as it has gone, am I conscious of having imputed to any
gentleman who is opposed to the claim in which I have so deep an interest,
any motive or design of a sinister character. I am sorry, therefore, that the
Public School Society should have been pleased to refer to the language of our
■ document as though imputation had thereby been cast upon their motives. I
am sure if they again review our documents they will not find one sohtary
instance of any imputation dishonorable to them personally as gentlemen. We
speak of their system apart from themselves ; and we speak of it with that
freedom wtiich it is the right of American citizens to speak of the public actions
and public proceedings of public men ; but again will I repeat, that in no
instance to my knowledge has there been imputed to those gentlemen one
solitary motive, one single purpose unworthy of their high standing and their
respectable character. They have alleged, in some of their documents, that we
charge them with teaching infidelity ; but we have not done so. We charge it
&s the result of their system, not that they are actively engaged in teaching
infidelity ; and not only do we not say this, but we interpose the declaration,
that we do not believe such to be their intention, but that the system has gone
beyond their intention. Yet, after this, they ascribe to themselves these impu-
tations, and they cap their salvo by saying, that even the authors of the address
shrink from a picture of their own coloring — a picture which they not only
charge that we have drawn of them, but also of all other classes and denomi-
nations of our fellow-citizens. Now, I venture to repeat, that in no instance
have we imputed to them motives which can reflect on them as honorable men.
I make these observations in the commencement, simply to show how much
has been written of the petitioners on assumptions which have no foundation
on any thing that has been written or said by us. I know well the Public
School Society is an institution highly popular in the city of New York ; but I
should be sorry 'to suppose that those gentlemen would permit themselves to
interpose that popularity between them and the justice which we contend for
when we seek that to which we believe we have a legal right. At the same
time it is proper for me, at the commencement, to clear away another objection
which an attempt has been made, in both the remonstrances thiat have been
read, to oppose to the exceedingly simple principle for which we contend.
The attempt has been made, (and you will perceive the whole document, which
issued as a Report from the Board of Assistant Aldermen, as well as the
remonstrances of the Public School Society, ^nd the Methodist Episcopal
Church, is based on the same false assumption,) to assume false premises in
this matter, which are, that we want this money for the promotion of the
ecclesiastical interests of our Church. Now, if these Societies wish to enter
their remonstrances against our petition they should first read the language in
which we have urged our claim, and if they had, they would have saved
themselves the trouble, in my opinion, of reasoning on arguments which are but
figments of their own creation and no proposition of ours. Have not we distinctly
stated not only what we want, but, to guard them against accusing us of what
wo do not want, have we not said that we do not want the public money to
promote ecclesiastical interests ? for to this money, for such a purpose, we have
no right. And, also, have we not further stated, that if it can be shown that
we want the money for this purpose, that we will abandon our claim— that if
SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 127
it can be shown that we want it for sectarian interest we will relinquish.it
altogether ? "We have said in the first place :
"Your petitioners will now invite the attention of your honorable body to the objections
and misrepresentations that have been urged by the Public School Society to gnvntinf,
the claim of your petitioners. It is urged by them that it would be appropriating
money raised' by general taxation to trie snppo;"t of the Catholic religion. Your
petitioners join issue with them, and declare unhesitatingly, that if this objection can
be established the claim shall forthwith be abandoned. It is objected that though we
are taxed as citizens, we apply for the benefits of education as ' Catholics,' Your
petitioners, to remove this difficulty, beg to be considered in their application in the
identical capacity in which they are taxed, viz. : as citizens of the commonwealth.
It has been contended by the Public School Society, that the law disqualilies
.schools which admit any profession of religion from receiving any encouragementa
from the school fund. Your petitioners have two solution^ for this pretended difficulty.
First. Your petitioners are unable to discover any such disqualification in law,
which m.erely delegates to your honorable body the authority and discretion of
determining what schools or societies shall be entitled to its bounty. Secondly. Your
petitioners are willing to fulfill the conditions of the law so far as religious teaching is
proscribed during school hours. In fine, your petitioners, to remove all objections, are
willing that the material organization of their schools, and the disbursements of the
funds allowed for them, shall be conducted and made, by persons unconnected with
*he religion of your petitioners, even the Public School Society, if it should please your
honorable body to appoint them for that purpose. The public may then be assured
that the money will not be applied to the support of the Catholic religion.
" It is deemed necessary by your petitioners to save the Public School Society the
necessity of future misconception, thus to state the things which are not petitioned
for."
Yet, notwithstanding this clear and simple language, you perceive both the
remonstrances, of the School Society and the Episcopal Methodists, go on this
false issue, that we want this money for sectarian and illegal purposes! Our
language could not be plainer than it was on this point, and yet there has been
uncharitableness enough in these societies to assert the contrary. I have
deemed it necessary to make this explanation at the commencement to impress
your minds, gentlemen, with what it is we seek and what it is. we seek not,
because I know a deal may be done towards a proper elucidation of this subject
by preserving its simplicity. The remonstrants warn you, gentlemen, against
giving money for sectarian purposes. We join them in that admonition. We
contend that we look in honesty and simplicity alone for the benefits of educa-
tion ; and as members of the commonwealth and as Catholics we seek but that
which we believe to be just, and legal, and right.
I shall now, gentlemen, review very briefly both the documents, because they
submit to your Honorable Body the grounds on which that claim, which we
believe to be just, is opposed. After the introduction of that from the Public
School Society, we find in the second paragraph the following passages :
" The subject has, however, been so fully elucidated and ably argued, in documents
now among the public records, that your remonstrants cannot Tiope to shed any
additional fight upon it. They therefore beg leave to refer your honorable body to
Document No. 80, of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, as containing the reasons on
which your remonstrants would rely, in opposing the applications of religious societies
for a portion of the school fund. It is believed that no decision of the City Government
ever met with a more general and cordial response in the public mind."
Yes, it may well be so believed, for the reason that that whole document wSnt
on a false issue, and therefore it was thus believed. But if I prove, as I shall,
that the premises had no foundation in reality, then the arguments founded
thereon must fall to the ground, for they were but castles in the air. It
proceeds : ' '
" As the Roman Catholics very recently issued an address to the people of this City
and State, ui'ging at large their reasons for a separate appropriation of school money,
to which your remonstrants have replied, they now present copies of said documents,
which they respectfully submit to your honorable body, as containing matter relevant
to the question under consideration. The petition of the Roman Catholics now pending
presents, nevertheless, some points which your remonstrants feel called upon to notice.
128 AECHBISHOP HUGHES,
B7 a misapprehension of the law in relation to persons who are conscientiously opposed
to bearing arms, which is applicable to persons of every religious persuasion, they
attempt to adduce an argument in favor of the prayer of their petition, and say that
theyi only claim the benefit of the same principle in regard to the education of their
children. Now the facts are, that the law imposes a fine, or tax as an equivalent for
personal military services, and in the event of there being no property on which to
levy, subjects such persons to imprisonment, and numbers are every year actually
confined in the jails of this State."
Now I conceive the illustration there referred to was a strong one. The
parents and guardians of tender offspring have a right connected with their
nature by God himself in His wise Providence, and they should be shown a
strong reason for transferring it to others. And I adduced it as an illustration
and as a strong one — why ? Because the defence of the country is a thing
connected with self-existence and preservation ; and yet, so tender is the genius
of this happy country of the rights of conscience, it dispensed with all those
who had religious scruples from a compliance with the law, and changed it
into a small tine, whereby the right was shown, and also the disposition to
waive it.
" With the religious opinions of the denomination of Christians referred to, your
remonstrants have nothing to do. In opposing the claims of the Roman Catholic, and
several other churches, to the school money, they have confined their remarks to broad
general grounds alike applicable to all; but the petitioners have seen fit to single out
a religious society by name, and intimate or indirectly assert, not only that their pecu-
liar religious views lead to insubordination and contempt of parental authority, but
that the Trustees of the Public Schools, who are of this denomination, by their numbers
or the ' controlling influence' they exert, have introduced the * same principle' into the
public schools, and that their effects are manifested in the conduct of the Catholic
children who have attended them."
Now I am exceedingly surprised that those gentlemen should go so far from
the text to draw reproach upon themselves. We said nothing to authorize
this language. We simply stated the fact ; we mentioned the circumstance of
the controlling influence of those holding peculiar sectarian views ; but we did
not draw the conclusion, whether the insubordination of the children of our
poor people was the result of the principles taught in the schools or of a want
of domestic influence. And yet these gentlemen have gone on to draw upon
themselves an imputation of which we respectfully disclaim the authorship.
They proceed :
" Your remonstrants feel bound, therefore, in reply,. to state that of the one hundred
citizens who compose the hoard of trustees, there are only twelve of the denomination
thus traduced " and of these six or seven accepted the situation by solicitation of
the board, for the purpose of superintending the management of the colored schools, to
which object they nave almost exclusively confined themselves."
Now I should be one of the last to detract from the raferits of this denomi-
nation. Some of them I have known personally, and others by their history,
and my opinion has always been of them that they are among the foremost
in every benevolent act and social virtue, and to lend their arm to strengthen
the weak and the oppressed ; and therefore it is no reproach to them that they
take the lead in this work of benevolence of which I give them credit. They
go on to say :
'" Of the motive that induced this extraordinary portion of the petition, your remon-
strants will not trust themselves to speak,"
It might be recollected, gentlemen, if there were a leaning that way, it
was after the publication of the "Reply" to our "Address," which, though
it has the name, is no rej>ly to our arguments. It is not an answer; but in
it they take the occasion to sneer at us, as I shall soon have occasion to
show; yet I may here observe, that it would have been better if they had
addressed themselves to the principles of eternal justice on which we rest.
" Of so much of it," they add, " as convevs an idea that the Trustees who are of this
religious persuasion introduced, or attempt to introduce, into the public schools their
SPEECH BEFOKE THE CITY COUNCIL. 129
own peculiar opinions," we never charged that thej did; "they can only say that no
one of the numerous and serious charges brought against your remonstrants by the
petitioners, is more entirely destitute of foundation in fact. If a disposition existed in
any quarter to give a sectarian bias to the minds of the children, it will readily be seen
that the most successful method would be through the selection of teachers."'
"Why, there was no necessity for this vindication at all.
" In one of the documents now submitted to your Honorable Body, it is stated that, in
appointing teachers, no regard is had by the Trustees to the religious profession-of the
candidates, and that six or seven of the present number are Roman Catholics."
I have seen this statement figure ia almost every document of that Society,
and yet I have not heeu able to find "six or seven of the present number
who are Eoman Catholics:" and I doubt if they can be found, except they
are such Roman Catholics as w« see our children become after they have
been in these public schools ; that is. Catholics who have nij feelings in com-
mon with their church — Catholics who are ashamed of the name, because in
the school-books and from the teachers they hear of its professors only as
" Papists," and of the religion itself only as " Popery." It is such as these, I
fear, that pass as Catholics, though I only know of one who is worthy of the
name. "From an inquiry now made, it is found that only two of the teacii-
ers belong to the ' Society of Friends.' " And I don't suppose that better
teachers could be obtained anywhere, when confined within the limits pre-
scribed; .except they have the pinvilege to introduce religious instruction.
And without that it matters but little whether they are of the Society of
Friends or not. They continue :
" It is with regret that your remonstrants find themselves under the painful neces-
sity of saying that the petition of the Catholics contains garbled extracts and detached
portions of some parts of their annual reports in relation to religious instruction, and
so arranged and commented upon as to convey a meaning directly opposite to the one
intended and clearly expressed in the original documents."
Now, I will allow the reading of it, and if there are any garbled extracts
there, I will be the first to correct it. But I am surprised, when we quote
the words of their documents, that they should urge this charge. Let the
documents be read. I have no dread on this subject.
" The same means are resorted to in quoting the language of the Trustees, when
urging the importance of using measures for inducing the poor to have their children
educated. On different occasions, your remonstrants have suggested to tjie Common
Council the expediency of requiring, by legal enactment, the attendance at some * public
or other daily school' of the numerous 'Vagrant children who roam about our streets
and wharves, begging and pilfering;' and this is tortured in the Catholic petition into
a desire of ' abridging the private liberties of their fellow-citizena,' and an acknowledg-
ment, on the part of the Trustees, * that they had not the confidence of the poor.' "
Yet I should think, gentlemen, such a reluctance to attend their schools as
to make it necessary to apply for a legal enactment to procure first the
money and then to compel an attendance,"would show that they did want
that confidence. I know they have not the confidence of our body. Yes,
they have obtained two (enactments from the Oommftn Council, depriving
the parents in time of need — even when cold and starvation have set in upon
them — of public relief, unless the children were sent to these, or some other
schools. And I have seen them urging ladies, in their public document-, to
obtain their confidence by soothing words; and I have seen them urging
employers to make it the condition of employment. Yet, after all this, they
pretend that they have had the confidence of the poor. I do not say that
they have notmerited it according to their views: but I do not think they
should expect all mankind to submit to their views of the matter, to the
sacrifice of their own. They say :
" The records of the schools will demonstrate that the industrious and respectable
portions of the laboring classes repose entire confidence in the public school system
and its managers."
9
130 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Then that portion in behalf of whom I stand here is not to be classed
with the " industrious and respectable 1" They then proceed to another
point :
" The subject of objectionable matter in the books used in the public schools is so
fully discussed in the papers now submitted to your honorable body, that little more
would seem to be called for under this head. Finding their strenuous and long-con-
tinued efibrts to induce the Catholic clergy to unite in an expurgation of the books un-
availing, the trustees commenced the work without them, and it is now nearly com-
pleted. If anything remains to which the petitioners can take exception, no censure
can, by possibility, attach to your remonstrants ; and the trustees assert with confi-
dence, that if any has escaped them, there is now less matter objectionable to the
Roman Catholics, to, be found in the books used in the public schools, than in those of
any other seminary of learning, either public or private, within this State."
Now they could not adopt a worse test, for I defy you to find a readinc;
book in either public or private seminary, that in respect to Catholics is
not full of ignorance. Not a book. For if it were clear of this it would
not be popular ; and if they refer to this, then they refer to a standard
which we repudiate. But it must be remembered those people can send
their children to those schools or keep tliem at home. They are not taxed
for their support. But here we are ; it is the public money which is here
used to preserve the black blots which have been attempted to be fixed on the
Catholic name. They say again, (and it is an idea that will go exceedingly
well with the public at large, for it will show how amiable and conciliating
are these gentlemen) — that they have submitted the books to us as though
we have nothing to do but to mark out a passage and it will disappear.
But are we to take the odium of erasing i)assages which they hold to be
true ? Have they the right to make such an offer ? And if we spend the
necessary time in reviewing the books to discover passages to be expurgated,
have they given us a pledge that they will do it, or that they will not even
then keep them in ? Have they given us a pledge that they will do it as far as
their denomination is concerned ? And then, after all the loss of time which
it would require to review these books, they can either remove the objec-
tionable passages, or preserve them as they see fit. An individual cannot
answer for a whole body. They may make a fine ofiier which may be cal-
culated to impose on the public, but if we put the question if they are able
and if they are willing, I should like to know whether they can, and will,
pass a law to show us that they arc sincere and that the object can be car-
ried out ? That would alter the case ; or we may correct one passage
to-day, and another next week ; and then another body may come into
power, and we may have to petition again and again. Could they then do
it if they would ? And should they if they could ? They add :
"In conclusion, your remonstrants would remark that they have not thought it ex-
pedient, on this occasion, to enter into a detailed defence of their conduct, as regards
all of the charges preferred by the Roman Catholics. Those charges are before your
honorable body, and the trustees will cheerfully submit to any inquiry that you "may
see fit to institute in relation to them ; and even if it can be shown that your remon-
strants are as ' eminently incompetent to the superintendence of public education ' as
the petition of the Roman Catholics intimates, it would not, they respectfully suggest
furnish any apology for breaking down one of the most important bulwarks of the civil
and religious liberties of the American people."
This much then as regards this document, which it will be perceived
goes on a false assumption that we want this money for a sectarian pur-
pose, because it was so referred to in the report of the Committee of the
Board of Assistant Aldermen, which denied our claim ; for when I come to
that it will be found that every proposition in it goes on the assumption
that we wish this money for religious purposes. If we did, it would be iust
to deny it to us. But I will now take up another document, and I regret
SPEECJI BEFOEE THE CITT COUNCIL. 1^1
that I cannot treat it with the respect I would otherwise wish to do. The
document from the Public School Society, however it mijrht have been
led aside, and however feeble in its reasoning, contained nothing, I trust and
believe, which was intended to be disrespectful to us. It wiis couched in
language at which I cannot take oilence; though it was weak in its prin-
ciples, its reasoning was decent. I cannot say as much for tliis wliich is
from " The undersigned committee, appointed by the pastors of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church in this city." They commence by observing,
'•That they have heard with surprise and alarm" — they should have seen
our petition instead of taking " hearsay " for their authority — " that the
Roman Catholics have i-enewed their application to the Common Council
for an appropriation from the Common School Fund, for the support of
the schools under their own direction, in which they teach, and propose
still to teach, their own sectarian dogmas."
Where did they find that ? Where did they find that statement ? I
should like to know from the gentlemen who signed this remonstrance
where they have their authority for such an assertion ? We disclaim it in
the petition against which they remonstrate. It shows then how much
trust can be placed in "hearsay," when they should and might have exam-
ined the petition against which they remonstrate, in which they can find
no such thing.
"In which they te.ich, and propose still to teach, their own sectarian dogmas : not
only to their own children, but to such Protestant children as they may find meaus to
get into thesfe schools."
I ask these gentlemen again what authority they have for such an asser-
tion ? I should like to see the argument which gives them their authority
to use language and to make a statement so palpably false as this is.
" Your memorialists had hoped that the clear, cogent, and unanswerable arguments,
by which the former application for this purpose was resisted, would have saved the
Common Council from further importunity."
We shall see whether the arguments were so clear, cogent, and unan-
swerable by and by.
" It was clearly shown, that the Council could not legally make any sectarian appro-
priation of the public funds; and it was clearly shown that it would be utterly destruc-
tive of the whole scheme of public school instruction to do so, even if it could be
legally done. But it seems that neither the constitution of the State, nor the public
welfare are to be regarded, when they stand in the way of Romon Catholic sectarian-
ism and exclusiveness."
There is an inference for you ; and a very unfounded one it is too. " It
must be manifest to the Common Council, that if the Roman Catholic
claims are granted, all the other Christian denominations will urge their
claims for a similar appropriation " — And I say they have the right to do
it, I wish they would do it, for I believe it would be better for the future
character of the city, and for its fame, when this generation shall have
passed away. If they did claim it and the claim was granted, then an
effort would be made to raise good and pious and honest men.
'■ and that the money raised for education by a general tax, will be solely
applied to the purposes of proselytism, through the medium of sectarian
schools. But if this were done, would it be the price of peace ? or would
it not throw the apple of discord into the whole Christian community ?
Should we agree in the division of the spoils ?"
I am exceedingly sorry that the gentlemen who drew Up the remon-
strance had not more confidence in the power of their own religious princi-
ple than to suppose that it would be necessary to contend violently for
what they call the " spoils." We have submitted to be deprived of them for
]32 ae:;hbishop hughes.
years, and we have not manifested such a disposition ; and I am surprised
that they who understand so much of the power of religion should attach
so much value to the little money which is to be distributed as to suppose
that it would set Christians— professing Christians— together by the ears in
its distribution.
" Should we agree in the division of the spoils ? Would each sect be satisfied with
the portion allotted to it? We venture to say, that the sturdy claimants who now beset
the Council, would not be satisfied with much less than the lion's share ; and we are
sure that there are other Protestant denominations, besides ourselves, who would not
patiently submit to the exaction."
After what they have said by authority as the grounds of their opposi-
tion, where, instead they should have had history for their guide, I am not
surprised that they should prophesy in the matter. I, too, may prophesy
and I will say that the " sturdy claimants " are as respectable as they are,
and I trust it will never be attributable to us that we claim more than ia
our common right, and if that should be violated with respect to the Meth-
odist Episcopal denomination, we shall be far from the ranks of those who
may be the violaters.
" But when all the Christian sects shall be satisfied with their individual share of the
public fund, what is to become of those children whose parents belong to none of these
sects, and who cannot conscientiously allow them to be educated in the peculiar dogmas
of any one of them ? The diiferent committees who on a^former occasion approached
your honorable body, have shown, that to provide schools for these only would require
little less t^an is now expended; and it requires little arithmetic to show that when the
religious sects have taken all, nothing will remain for those who have not yet been able
to decide which of the Christian denominations to prefer. It must be plain to every
impartial observer that the applicants are opposed to the whole system of public school
instruction."
Have we said so ? And on what a,uthority have these gentlemen the right
t.0 say it if we have not ? Where are their data ? And yet they come before
this Honorable Body and make such assertions with the sanction of their whole
church ! •
" And it will be found that the uncharitable exclusiveness of their creed must ever be
opposed to all public instruction which is not under the direction of their own priest-
hood. They may be conscientious in all this ; but though it be no new claim on their
part, we cannot yet allow them to guide and control the consciences of all the rest of the
community."
Why, it would be a silly and absurd thing on our part to look for it. But
we never thought of it. It is a fiction of these gentlemen's own creation. I
contend we ask nothing for the community but for ourselves, and I trust it will
be granted if it is right, and if we can be shown that it is not right we will
abandon it cheerfully. But their assertion is wholly destitute of foundation.
" We are sorry that the reading of the Bible in the public schools, without note or
commentary, is offensive to them j but we cannot allow the Holy Scriptures to be ac-
companied with ifeir notes and commentaries" — Have we asked such a thing? or in any
way solicited it?—" and to put into the hands of the children, who may hereafter be the
rulers and legislators of our beloved country; because among other bad things taught
in these commentaries is to be foun^ the lawfulness of murdering heretics ; and the un-
qualified submission, in all matters of conscience, to the Roman Catholic Church."
I have a feeling of respect for many of their denomination, but not for the
head or the heart of those who drew this document up. ^ Here it states an un-
qualified falsehood. Here it puts forth a false proposition, and that proposition
has been introduced here as a slander. I can prove that it is so. And depend-
ing on the confidence here reposed in me, I propose and pledge myself to for-
feit a thousand dollars, to be appropriated in charities as this council may
direct, if those gentlemen can prove the truth of this allegation ; provided they
agree to the same forfeiture to be appropriated in a similar marner, if they fail
SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 133
to establish its truth. If they can prove that the Catholic Church sanctions,
or has made it lawful to murder heretics, I will forfeit that sum. I feel in-
dignant that we should be met, when We come with a plain, and reasonable, and
honest request to submit to the proper authorities, with slanders such as that,
and that in the name of religion, which is holy. I wish them to hear what I
say. I know very well their books tell them so ; but they should look at the
original and not at secondary authorities when they assail our reputation and
our rights.
" But if the principle on which this application is based should be admitted, it must
be carried fur bej-ond the present purpose. If all are to be released from taxation,
when they ciinnot conscientiously derive any benefit from the disbursement of the money
collected, what will be done for the Society of Friends, and other sects who are opposed
to war under all circumstances ? "
With that I have nothing to do, and, therefore, I will pass on to another
point.
*' The Roman Catholics complain that books bav-e been introduced into the public
schools which are injurious to them as a body. It is allowed, however, that the pas-
sages in these books, to which such reference is made, are chiefly, if not entirely, his-
torical ; and we put it to the candor of the Common Council to say whether any his-
tory of Europe, for the last ten centuries, could be written, which could either omit
to mention the Roman Catholic Church, or mention it without recording historical
facts unfavorable to thatChurch?"
And this is what the remonstrants call a strong issue. They assert that no
history could be written which could either omit to mention the Roman
Catholic Church, or mention it without recording historical facts unfavorable
to the Catholic Church. If this be the case, I ask you whether, as citizens en-
titled to the rights of citizens, we are to be compelled to send our children to
schools which cannot teach our children history without blackening us. But
again they say,
" We assert that if all the historical facts in which the Church of Rome has taken a
prominent part could be taken from writers of her own communion only, the incidents
might be made, more objectionable tp the complainants, than any book to which they
now object."
No doubt of it ; and it only proves that Catholic historians have no
interest to conceal what is the truth. But I contend that there are pages
in the Catholic history brighter than any in the history of jMethodism ;
and that there are questions and passages enough for reading lessons,
without selecting such as will lead the mind of the Catholic child to be
ashamed of his ancestors. The Methodist Episcopal Church is a respecta-
ble church, and I am willing to treat it with becoming respect ; but it is a
young church ; it is not so old as the Catholic Church, and therefore has
fewer crimes ; but I contend again it has fewer virtues to boast of And
in its career of a hundred years it has done as little for mankind as any
other denomination.
" History itself, then, must be falsified for their accommodation ; and yet they com-
plain that the system of education adopted in the public schools does not teach the
sinfulness of lying !
" They complain that no religion is taught in these schools, and declare that any,
evfen the worst form of Christianity, would be better than none; and yet they object
to the reading of the Holy Scriptures, which are the only foundation of all true religion.
Is it not plain then, that they will not be satisfied with any thing short of the total
abandonment of public school instruction, or the appropriation of such portion of the
public fund as they may claim, to their owu sectarian purposes?"
All the time they go on the false issue. They charge that which we
disclaim, and they reason on a charge of their own invention, and which
we never authorized. Now, as I have a word to say about the Holy Scrip-
tures, I may as well say it at this, as at any other time. Their assumption
134 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. ■
is that because the Scriptures are read, sufficient precaution is taken
against infidelity. But I do not agree with them in that opinion, and I
will give my reason. What is the reason that there is such a diversity of
sects all claiming the Holy Scriptures as the centre from which they draw
their lespeotive contradictory systems— that book which appears out of
school by the use made of it, to be the source of all dissension, when it
does not come to the minds of children with such authority as to fix on
their minds any definite principles ? As regards us, while the Protestants
say tlieirs is the true version, we say it is not so. We treat the Scriptures
reverently, but the Protestant version of the Scriptures is not a complete
copy, and as it has been altered and changed, we do not look upon it as
giving the whole writings which were given by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. We object not to the Holy Scriptures, but to the Protestant
version without note or comment. We think it too much to ask Protest-
ants to relinquish theirs and take ours for the use of the public schools.
]f we could ask you — if we could propose that you should take our book
— if we should ask you to put out the Protestant Scriptures and take ours,
with our note- and comment, do you think Protestants would agree to it ?
Do you not think we should be arraigned as enemies of the Word of God ?
— for that is one charge made when it is sought to denounce us. When
we speak language of this kind, instead of understanding us according to
our comprehension of the subject, they charge that we are enemies to the
Holy Scriptures. But to object to their version is not to object to the
Holy Scriptures ; and I am prepared to show them that no denomination has
done so much in the true sense for the Scriptures as the Catholic Church.
The remonstrants add :
'' But this is not all. They have been most complaisantly oflFered the censorship of
the books to be used in the public schools. The committee to whom has been confided
the management of these schools in this city, offered to allow the Roman Catholic
Bishop to expurgate from these books any thing offensive to him."
And now they go out of their way to sneer at us, and you will observe
the flippancy with which they do it.
'* But the offer was not accepted; perhaps, for the same reason that be declined to
decide on the admissibility of a book of extracts from the Bible, which had been sanc-
tioned by certain Roman bishops in Ireland. An appeal, it seems; had gone to the
Vope on the subject, and nothing could be said or done in the matter until his'Holiuess
had decided. The Common Council of New Tork will therefore find, that when they
shall have conceded to the Roman Catholics of this city the selection of books for the
use of the public schools, that these books must undergo the censorship of a foreign
Potentate. We hope the time^is far distant when the citizens of this country will
allow any foreign power to dictate to them in matters relating to either general or
municipal law."
Prophets again ; but not prophets of charity. I, sir, say not prophets
of good-will, for there is something more in their souls than the public
welfare. There is something in their insinuation that is insulting, and a
tone which does not show a mind enlightened and enlarged, and an
appreciation of equal justice and equal rights. Just their way. They
hear that an appeal has gone to the Pope ; and if we desired to appesl!,
also,' we should claim the right to do it without asking permission from
any one. Catholics all over the world do it when their consciences make
it a duty, but not in matters of this kind. " These books must undergo
the censorship of a foreign Potentate 1" Now we regard him only as
supreme in our Church, and there's an end of it.
" We cannot conclude this memorial without noticing one other ground on which
tlui Roman Catholics, in their late appeal to their fellow-citizens, urged their sectarian
SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 135
plaima, and excused their conscientious objections to the public schools. Their creed
is dear to them, it seeiiia, because some of their ancestors have been martyrs to their
faith. This was an unfortunate allusion."
Some ! " Some of tlieir ancestors have been martyrs to their faith." I
speak of the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland, and when you reflect
on the bigoted and unjust laws which Great Britain founded against all
that were Catholics, by which their churches were wrested from them, and
a bribe was offered as an inducement to the double crime of murder and
of perjury, when it authorized any man to bring the head of a Catholic to
the commissioner, and if he would only swear it was the head of a priest
he got the same price as for the head of a wolf, no matter whose head it
was — and when legislation of that kind continued for centuries, this, you
must agree with me, was being martyrs indeed. But when have the
Methodists shown a sympathy for those contending for the rights of con-
science ? When the Dissenters of England claimed to be released from
the operation of the "Test and Corporation" act by which they were
excluded from civil office, did the Methodist Episcopal Church assist
them ? Not a solitary petition went from them for the enlargement of
their freedom. And is it a wonder that we look to conscience and admire
those who had the firmness to suffer for conscience' sake ? By the penal
laws against_Cjtholics the doors of Parliament were closed against us, if
we had a conscience, for it required us to take an oath which we did not
believe to be true, and therefore we could not swear it. There it is, sir ;
it is because we have a conscience, because we respect it, that we have
suffered, and while virtue is admired on earth, the fidelity of the people
that are found standing by the right of conscience will command the
admiration of the world. And yet, we are told, it was an unfortunate
allusion !
" Did not the Roman Catholics know, that they addressed many of their
fellow-citizens who could not recur to the memoirs of their ancestors without
being reminded of the revocation of the Edict of ISTantz — " the massacre of St.
Bartholomew's day, the fires of Smithfield." What is that to us ? Are we
the people that took part in that ? " Or the crusade against the Waldenses ?
We would willingly cover these scenes with the mantle of charity." They had
better not make the attempt, for their mantle is too narrow. " And hope that
Dur Roman Catholic fellow-citizens will-in future avoid whatever has a tendency
to revive the painful remembrance."
Let them enter upon that chapter and discuss the charitableness of their
religion, and I am prepared to prove — I speak it with confidence in the presence
of this honorable .assembly — that the Catholic religion is more charitable to
those who depart from her pale, than any other that ever was yoked in unholy
alliance with civil power.
"Your memorialists had hoped that the intolerance and exclusiveness which had
characterized the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, had been greatly softened under
the benign influences of our civil institutions. The pertinacity with which their sectarian
interests are now urged, has dissipated the illusion."
Sectarian interests, again, although we have disclaimed them.
" We were content with their having excluded us, ' ex cathedra,* from all claim to
■ heaven, for we were sure they did not possess the keys, notwithstanding their confident
pretensions."
Why they need not be Uneasy about our excluding them from heaven, for
their opinion is that they have no chance to enter if they have anything to do
with us ; and therefore our excluding them is of no avail.
*' Nor did we complain they would not allow us any participation in the benefits of
purgatory — "
Pray what has that to do with Common School Education ?
186 ■ ABCHBISHOP HUGHES.
" For it is a place they have made for themselves, and of which ftey may claim the
exclusive property."
Well it is no matter whether we believe in purgatory or not ; it is no matter
for the Common Council to decide. But if they are not satisfied with our
purgatory, and wish to go farther, they may prove the truth of the proverb
which says " they may go farther and fare worse."
" But n-e do protest against any appropriation of the public school fund for their
exclusive benefit, or for any other purposes whatever. Assured that the Common
Council will do what it is right to do in the premises, we are, gentlemen, with great
respect, ^ our most obedient servants, N. Bangs, Thomas E. Bond, George Peck."
And now I have gone through these two remonstrances, both of which, it
will be seen, refer to the document of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, and
rest their opposition on the same ground. Of that document, I will pass over
the introduction, but I may observe that its authors, by what influence 1 am
unable to say, have been made to rest their report upon an issue such as I have
already described, and for which our petition furnishes no basis. I will first
call your attention to the following observations :
" The petitioners who appeared, also contended that they contributed, in common
with all other citizens who were taxed for the purpose, to the accumulation of the
Common School Fund, and that they were therefore entitled to a participation iu its
advantages ; that now they receive no benefit from the fund inasmuch as the members
of the Catholic Churches could not conscientiously send their children to schools in
which the religious doctrines of their fathers were exposed to ridicule or censure. The
truth and justice of the first br-anch of this proposition — ■
That is the payment of taxes,
— " cannot be questioned. The correctness of the latter part of the argument, so far as
the same relates to books or exercises of any kind in the Public Schools, reflecting on
the Catholic Church, was denied by the School Society."
Now it is to be remembered that this denial, of anything objectionable in
the books of the Public School Society, was made at the period of the last
application. I am persuaded those gentlemen, if they bad known there was
any thing objectionable to the Catholics, would not have denied it. I am sure
they believed there was nothing, and from this circumstance I think I may
fairly draw this inference, that they had not paid that attention to the books
which they should have done, knowing the variety of denominations contribut-
ing to this fund and entitled to its benefits ; or knowing this and the feelings
and principles of Catholics, that they were incompetent for the proper discharge
of their responsible duties. It is only on one of these two grounds that I can
account for their denial. But since that time they have not only admitted that
the objection was correct, but they have expunged passages from the books
which at the time of this denial they said did not exist. I shall pass on now to
the two questions on which the decision of the Committee was made to rest.
The first is — "Have the Common Council of this city, under the existing laws
relative to Common Schools in the city of New York, a legal right to appropriate
any portion of the School Fund to religious corporations ?"
Whether they have or not one thing is clear and certain, that it is not as a
" Religious Corporation" that we apply for it ; and it seems to me that this
should have struck the attention of the Public School Society, and the other
gentlemen who have remonstrated. 'We do not apply as a religious body— we
apply in the identical capacity in which we are taxed— as citizens of the com-
monwealth, without an encroachment on principle or the violation of any
man's conscience. But secondly they ask—" Would the exercise of such power
be m accordance with the spirit of the constitution, and the nature of our
government ?"
Certainly not._ If the constitution and government have determined that no
religious denomination shall receive any civil privilege, the exercise of such
power will not be in conformity with the spirit of the constitution and the
SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 1J7
nature of our government. But there is throughout and in all these Jocuments
a squeamishness, a false delicacy, a persuasion that eveiything which excludes
religion abroad is right and liberal. It would be unnecessary for nie to follow
this report sentence by sentence if there had not been so much roiiance placed
on it by those who have remonstrated ; but a,s so much consequence has been
attached to it I will call your attention to some other passages. They go on to
say : " Private associations and religious corporations were excluded from the
management of the fund and the government of the schools. Private interest,
under this system, could not appropriate the public treasure to private purposes,
and religious zeal could not divert it to the purposes of proselytism."
Why there is nothing of the kind intended. We have been driven by the
o) ligation of our consciences, and at our expense, which we are poorly able to
bear, to provide schools ; but they are not convenient, they are not well venti-
lated, and are not well calculated to give that development to your young
citizens which they ought to have ; why argue, then, against religious corpo-
rations, and, in treating this question, bring prejudices into view which
ought to have no existence in reality? They then go on to give the
history and origin of the ijresent law and of the Public School Fund, and
it seems that for a period of time, and a long period, the Legislature desig-
nated the schools which might participate in this bountj'. Each religious
denomination provided for the instruction of its own poor; they had
Ijrovided schools, and their exertions were honorable and laudable. The
Legislature granted its aid, and the respective Societies were encouraged to
go on with the good work, and they did go on year after year, and then
there was never heard that disputation which appears now to be so much
dreaded. There was not then heard dissentation between neighbors, or
strife between societies ; everything went on peaceably, and why ? Because
the schools and the citizens were not then charged that religion was a
forbidden subject. Nor should you now make it a forbidden part of
education, because on religious principles alone can conscience find a
resting-place. It should be made known that here conscience is supreme —
that here all men are free to choose the views which their judgments, with
a sense of their responsibility to an eternal weal or woe, shall offer for their
adoption. It should be taught that here neighbors have the right to differ,
and whatever is the right of one must be recognized as the right of the
other ; and the distribution of this fund will be better calculated to benefit
the community than it can be by these public schools where everything
seems to be at par except religion, and that is below par at an immense
discount. They tell us then that — " The law was imperative in its char-
acter, and the several religious societies of the city possessed a legal right
to draw their respective portions of the fund from the public treasury,
subject only to the restriction, that the money so received should be appro-
priated to the purposes of free and common education."
But that '■^ right to draw''' has been taken away ; yet there is nothing in
the act by which the right to draw is taken away which forbids their
I'eceiving it still, if in the judgment of this Honorable Body the circum-
stances of the case entitle them to it. It is not an impeachment — the
legislature had no intention to reflect on religious bodies — it liad no
intention to blackball religion in the Public Schools ; and yet that view has
been taken of it. Such was not the case; but because circumstances had
arisen; and what were they ? "Why gross abuses had been practiced by
one of the religious societies, and — " The funds received by the Church
were applied to other purposes than those contemplated by the act."
~ Under some prfitext the favor to expend the school moneys had been
conferred on that Society in a way that distinguished it from all other
Christian denominations and societies ; and the other seeing this privilege
138 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
conferred on one and r-ot on the rest, ventured to remonstj-ate with the Legis-
lature ; they intimated that the partiality to that Society of Baptists Tvas
an injustice to others, and they remonstrated against the law conferring
exclusive privileges and against no other thing whatever. _ And yet by
every document, and by this very document, it seems to be imagined that
the Legislature did not revoke special favors granted to that Society, but
withdrew its aid from all Christian churches ; so that all the men who
remonstrated against this partial legislation were found to have been
themselves deprived of the privilege which they had enjoyed, and this on
the strength of their own remonstrances for quite another thing. And the
discretion which the Legislature had exercised to designate the schools
\vhich should receive this fund was transferred to this Honorable Body,
the Common Council of the City of New York. And why was it trans-
lerred ? I cannot speak positively, but while it seems to me that there
were abuses shown to exist by the remonstrants, of which they made com-
plaint, we may suppose the Legislature conceived it difficult for them to
take cognizance of the matter, not being on the spot, but that the Common
Council being here, and being a body chosen by the people in which, con-
sequently, the public would have confidence, was the best and most fitting
body to designate from time to time the institutions or schools which
should be entitled to receive those school moneys. This must have been
their intention, and yet this has been interpreted as repealing the law in
order to deprive those denominations of a legal right (for right they had,
and they could come and demand the money) and not a mere transfer of
the discretion to give this money from the Legislature to the Common
Council of New York. Now all this, which is so plain and simple has
been construed by these gentlemen of the Public School Society as what ?
As conferring a monopoly upon thein. As a law disqualifying all religious
denominations receiving it. So it has been interpreted. But if it were
so, we ask not for the money on the ground that we are a religious corpora-
tion, but of public utility, for the purpose of giving an education to a
large and destitute class which otherwise will not have the means to pro-
cure it. We ask it to secure a public advantage, and if the objections
anywhere exist to which I have directed your attention, they do not apply
to our case. Gentlemen, I think it unnecessary to detain you any longer
on this subject as referred to in this document, because while the question
is composed of one simple fact, they are arguing against dangers which
do not threaten them. But then they go on to say, " to prevent in our
day and country, the recurrence of scenes so abhorrent to every principle
of justice, humanity, and right, the Constitution of the United States, and
of the several States, have declared in some form or other, that there
should be no establishment of religion by law ; that the affairs of the
State should be kept entirely distinct from, and unconnected with those
of the Church ; that every human being should worship God, according
to the dictates o*f his own conscience ; that all churches and religions
should be supported by voluntary contribution ; and that no tax should
ever be imposed for the benefit of any denomination of religion, for any
cause, or under any pretence whatever."
All this is doctrine to which we subscriGe most heartily. And while
we seek to be relieved from the evils under which we suffer, wo do not
seek relief to the detriment of any other sect. AVhat ! is this country
independent of religion ? Is it a country of Atheism, or of an Established
Religion ? Neither the one nor the other ; but a country which makes no
law for religion, but places the right of conscience above all other authority
—granting equality to all, protection to all, preference to none. And
while aL these documents have gone on the presumption of preference, all '
SPEECH EEFOEK THE CUT COUNCIL. 139
we want is that we ma,y be entitled to protection and not preference. We want
that the public money shall not be employed to sap religion in the minds of
our children — that they may have the advantages of education without the in-
termixture of religious views with their common knowledge which goes to de-
stroy that which wo believe to be the true religion. There is another feature
connected with this subject — which is the definition given of a public school
such as should be entitled to this money. "If the school money," says these
gentlemen, — and I must believe they are imposed on by a statement which is
not correct. I believe if they had known the true statement, they would not
have published in their report such a statement as this : " If the school money
sliould be divided among the religious denominations generally, as some
have proposed, there will be nothing left for the support of schools of a
•purely civil character; and if there should be, in such a state of things,
any citizen who could not, according to his opinions of right and wi'ong,
conscientiously send his child to the school of an existing sect, there would
be no public school in which he could be educated. This might, and
probably would be the case with hundreds of our citizens."
Now, let me for a moment invite your attention to that part of the sub-
ject which I have now tl* honor to submit to you ; and it is that part on
vrhich all these documents go, that religious teaching would vitiate all
claim to a participation in this public fund. A common education, then,
as understood by the State, is a secular education, and these documents
contend that any religious teaching, no matter how slight, will vitiate all
claim to a participation in this fund. Now, the Public School Society, in
their reports, have from time to time stated themselves, and, observe, with
a consciousness that the jealous eye of the community is upon them — they
state, still under this restriction, that they have imparted religion. Now,
if this doctrine be correct, they are no more entitled to the Common School
Fund than others ? Or, is the doctrine correct, and yet one must abide by
it and not another ? Again, these gentlemen charge us with accusing them
of teaching infidelity, when taking this tax they give that education which,
they state to us when we apply for a portion of this money, the State con-
templates to give the scholar. Now, if the child be brought up without
religion what is he ? " Oh," they say, " we do not teach it." Is it neces-
sary to teach infidelity? It does not require the active process. To make
an infidel, what is it necessary to do ? Cage him up in a room, give him a
secular education from the age of five years to twenty-one, and I ask you
what he will come out, if not an infidel ? Whether he will know anything
about God ? And yet they tell you that religious teaching is a disqualifica-
tion. What will a child be, then, if you give him their education from his youth
up to the age of twenty-one ? Will he know anything of God, and of a Divine
Kedeemer ? of a Trinity, of the incarnation of the Saviour, and the redemption
of the world by the atonement of Christ, or of any of those grand doctrines
which are the basis and corner-stone of our Christianity ? And because we
object to a system of teaching which leads to practical infidelity, we are ac-
cused of charging the Public School Society with being infidels. They furnish
the basis of the charge; we do not wish to do so. Now, I ask you whether it
was the intention of the Legislature of New York, or of the people of the State,
that the Public -Schools should be made precisely such as the infidels want ?
Permit me to say, when I use the term infidel, I mean no disrespect to those
that are so. I would not be one ; but I respect their right to be what they
please. A few days ago, a gentleman, who professes to be" one of this class,
and who would not allow his children to be scholars where religion is taught
at alj, said he could send them to the Public School, for there the education
suited him. What, then, is the consequence? That while the public educa'
tion of New York is guarded in such a manner as to suit the infidel, the chil-
]40 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
dren become so. And is there any authority in this Board, or of a legislative body
iit Albany, or is there any Board in the Union, with power by the constitution,
to oxclude religion or to engraft it ? Neither the one nor the other. Ihe in-
fidel s.iys truly, that there is no rehgion taught, and, therefore, he can send his
children ; and I should like to know why any member of a Christian church
should be forced to do violence to his convictions and not be permitted to en-
joy equal advantages ? If the infidel can send his children to these schoolsbe-
cause no religion is taught there, and who, therefore, has to make no sacrifaces
of conscience, why cannot the Christian enjoy equal advantages ? They say
their instruction is not sectarianism ; but it is ; and of what kind ? The sec-
tarianism of infidehty in its every feature. But becau*e it is of a negative kind,
and they do not admit the doctrines of any particular denomination, because
they do not profess to teach religion, therefore it is suited for all ! As a test,
therefore, of this principle, give this purely secular knowledge to a young man,
keep him from intercourse with the rest of the world, give him nothing else,
and what sort of a man would he be ? What would be the state of his mind ?
A blank — a perfect blank as to religious impressions. But I contend that it is
infidelity, and I hope the Public School gentlemen hear what I say. But, again,
I do not charge it on their intention, and their assertion is purely gratuitous
when they say that such an accusation is made against them. Here is the ob-
servation of the report on this subject :
" If religious instruction is communicated, it is foreign to the intentions of the
school system, and should be instantly abandoned. Religious instruction is no part of a
Common School education."
Such, then, is the nature of that report which, I take leave to repeat, has
been prepared by the gentlemen who drew it up as a committee, under the im-
pression fixed on their minds that Catholics want this money to promote their
rfeligion, and that if it were granted to us others would want it for their respec-
tive religions also ; and on this assumption they decided ; but against this false
issue I protest, whether set forth in tliis report or in the two remonstrances be-
fore this Council — one from the Public School Society, and the other from the
Methodist* Episcopal Church. It is not my business to speak in relation to the
Public School Society at large. Of its history I have taken pains to make my-
self suflSciently possessed to speak ; and I find that in its origin, so far 'from
disclaiming all connection with religion, so far from conceiving rehgious teach-
ing disadvantageous, it was originally incorporated for the purpose of supply-
ing the wants of the destitute portion of the population, and their petition for a
charter set forth
" The benefits which would result to society from the education of such children, by
implanting in their minds the principles of religion and morality."
At this time every denomination taught its own, and received an equal por-
tion of the fund from the public authorities to aid them in their good work, so
that their children were provided for, and this Society came to gather in the
neglected and the outcast — they came as gleaners, after the reapers had gone
through the field, and a most benevolent purpose theirs was ; and their object
I repeat, when they applied to the Legislature, was set forth to be — (for thej'
did not conceal the advantages of a religious education) — to produce benefits to
society by the implanting in the minds of such children the principles of re-
ligion and morality. There wore children belonging to no denomination, and
this Society seeing the benefits which would result to society from the educa-
tion of such children by implanting in their minds the principles of religion and
morality, undertook this benevolent work, and covered themselves and the name
of their Society with glory by that undertaking. But it is strange that what
then was so advantageous to the community — the implanting in the minds of
children the principles of rsligion and morality — should have ceased to be ao
SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 141
now ; and that they or their successors should seek to make that varj thing a
disquahfication, and to turn it against all denominations of Christians, and
cUim themselves to monopoUse the fund and the teaching on the principle that
no religion shall be imparted. Now, has the Legislature seen lit to alter the
character so as to make religious teaching a disqualification of all other sects ?
Was it for that purpose that this Society, step by step, obtained enlarged
privileges, by which not only the neglected children of the community, but
those of others, came under their care, that they obtained grants from the
public treasury and the exchequer of the city, to an amount of many thous-
ands of dollars, until the Society claims to he the true and only Society,
though existing as a private corporation, electing its own body, fixing a tax
for the privilege of membership, sometimes $10, at others $20, |25, and §50,
any of which sums is too much for a poor man to pay ; and out of this or-
ganized body electing the Trustees to carry on the work?
I mention this, not to blame them, for they believe they are doing good,
out to show that even with men who are honorable in every day-life, how
much watchfulness and vigilance, how much tact and talent, is used to grasp
more and more, till they absorb all, and completely deprive all others of any
participation in the advantages of controlling this fund.
It is not my intention, as it is not my peculiar province, to enter into the
legal part of the argument ; but I have to regret that the gentleman who did
intend to treat it, and to whose department it belonged, has been unfor-
tunately prevented by the bursting of a small blood-vessel. But though my
experience has not qualified me to enter into legal matters, yet, as a citizen,
I might have the right to express my opinion on the monopoly which this
Society claims ; and that opiny)n is contrary to the monopoly, and not only
contrary to their monopoly, smiply regarded as a monopoly, but because I
believe that a monopoly of this description should be regarded with double
jealousy. "Why? Because this monopoly is of greater weight than in ordi-
nary cases; of great weight pecuniarily — for last year the fund amounted to
$115,000 — because the distribution of that money gives to them a patronage
which, considering the weakness of human nature, is in danger of being used
disadvantageously ; because it gives to them privileges of infinitely higher
*> importance than any that can be estimated by dollars and cents — the privi-
lege of stamping their peculiar character on the minds of thousands and tens
oi^ thousands of our children. They ought to be men, to discharge the trust
of such a monopoly, as pure as angels, and almost imbued with wisdom from
above — such men they should be, when they would venture to come and
stand by the mother's side, and say, in effect, " Give me the darling which
you have nourished at your breast — give it to me, a stranger, and I will direct
its mind. True, you are its parent ; but you are not fit to guide its youthful
progress, and to implant true principles in its mind ; therefore give it to me,
and give me also the means wherewith to instruct it." That is the position
of that Society ; and they ought to be almost more than men for this — as
doubtless they are honorable men in their proper places; but of that we
should have the most satisfactory evidence, that we may be well assured
that they are fitted to discharge their duties. It is this consideration that
brought me here, as the first pastor of a body of people, large and numer-
ous as they are known to be ; but poor as many of them arc, and exposed
to many hardships, they have children with immortal souls, whose condi-
tion is involved in this question, and if it is an impropriety in the clerical
character, I would rather undergo the reproach than neglect to advocate
their rights, as far as I have the power, with my feeble ability.
The Catholics of the city of New York may be estimated as one-fifth of
the population ; and when you take account of tlie class of children usually
attending the Public Schools, and consider how many there ar j in this city
142 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
A9ho are in affluent circumstances, which enable them to give an education
I to their children, who do not therefore participate in the teaching ot the
Public Schools; and when you consider the numbers not attending _ any
school at all, I say, of those people, who, by their poverty, are the objects
most usually composing the number that require the assistance of the Com-
mon SchoolFunfl, Catholics are one-third, if not more. And when I see this
one-third excluded— respecting, as I do, their welfare in this life, as well
as their welfare in a brighter world— then it is that I come forward thus
publicly, and stand here to plead for them. I conceive we have our rights
in question, and, therefore, most respectfully, I demand them from this .
Honorable Board.
I am not surprised that there should be remonstrances against our claim ;
but I did hope, in an age as enlightened as this is, and among gentlemen
of known liberality of feeling, that their opposition would not have been
characterized as this has been. However, it is not to me a matter of sur-
prise; for I believe if some of those gentlemen, who consider themselves
now as eminent Christians, had lived at the period when Lazarus lay lan-
guishing at the gate of the rich man, petitioning for the crumbs that fell
from the table, they would have sent their remonstrance against Ms
petition.
When the Methodist Episcopal Church sent its petition for a portion of
this fund, some eight years ago, then it was not .unconstitutional ! Yet, did
the Catholics send in their remonstrance against it ? When their theo-
logical seminaries obtained (and they still receive) the bounty of the State,
did, or do, the Catholics complain ? Has there been a single' instance of
illiberality on the part of the Catholics, or a want of disposition to grant
rights as universal as the nature of man may require ? And I have been
astonished only at this, that good men, with good intentions, should prefer
to cling to a system, and to the money raised for its support by the public
liberality — ^that they would sooner see tens of thousands of poor children
contending with ignorance, and the companions of vice, than concede one
iota of their monopoly, in order that others may enjoy their rights. I say
this, because I am authorized to say it.
And what am I to infer, but, that they prefer the means to the end. The
end designed, is to convey knowledge to the minds of our children ; the
means is the public fund ; and, by refusing to cause the slightest variation
in their system, they cling to the means, while they leave thousands of
childl'en without the benefit which the State intended to confer. They may
pursue that course, but the experience of the past should have tajight them
that, while they maintain their present character, a large portion of their
fellow-citizens have not— cannot have — confidence in them.
But they have said that, if a portion of this fund is given to Catholics,
all other sects will want it. Then, let them have it. But I do not see that
that is probable ; and my reason is this : They have sent in remonstrances
against the claim of the Catholics, as you will see by a reference to docu-
ment No. 80, all 'of which go to prove that they are satisfied with the pres-
ent Public School System. And if they are satisfied, and their children de-
rive benefit from it, let them continue to frequent the schools as they do
now. The schools are no benefit to Catholics now ; we have no confidence
in them ; there is no harmony of feeling between them and us ; we have no
confidence that those civil and religious rights that belong to us will be
enjoyed, while the Public School Society retains its present monopoly.
We do not receive benefit from these schools : do not, then, take from
Catholic? their portion of the" fund, by taxation, and hand it over to those
who do not give them an equivalent in return. Let those who can, receive
the advantages of these schools ; but as Catholics cannot, do not tie them
SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 143
to a sj'stem which is intended for the advantage of a class of societj of
which they form one-third, but from which system tV. py can receive no
benefit.
Tliere are many other topics connected with this subject, to which I
might advert; but I must apologize for the length of time tluit I have
ti-espassed on your patience. I feel, unaccustomed as I am to address such
a body, and hurried as was my preparation, that I have not been able to
present the subject before you in that clear and lucid manner that would
make it interesting; but it was not with that view that I claimed your
attention in relation to it; it was with far higher motives: and I now,
with confidence, submit it to your judgment.
BISHOP HUGHES' SECOND DAY'S SPEECH BEFORE THE BOARD
OF ALDERMEN AND COUNCILMEN, IN ANSWER TO MR. SEDG-
WICK, MR. KETCHUM, DR. BOND, DR. SPRING, AND OTHERS,
'WHO ADDRESSED THE CITY COUNCIL IN OPPOSITION TO THE
PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS; ALSO THE DISCUSSION IN
REGARD TO THE AUTHORITY OP THE RHEMISH TESTAMENT
AS A CATHOLIC TERSION, ETC.
When Mr. Ketchum concluded his argument on the first; day, the
Rev. Dr. Bond appeared as the representative of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, but he gave way to the Right Rer. Bishop
Hughes, who desired to make a brief reply to the two legal gentle-
men who had addressed the Board. He said :
I have a few remarks that I wish to make, partly in reference to
myself and partly to nly principles, and the views submitted with
regard to those principles ; but the debate has taken a raiige too
wide and too legal for me to pretend to follow it throughotit. I am
not accustomed to the niceties of legislation or the manner of int-er-
preting statutes or acts of the Legislature; but to sum up the
whole of the two eloquent addresses made by the gentlemen who
have just spoken, they amount to this : that either the consciences of
Catholics must be crushed and their objections resisted, or the Public
School System must fee destroyed. That is the pith of both their
observations. They ar-gue that there must be either one or the
other of these two results, and those • gentlemen are inclined to the
course of compelling conscience to give way, they being the judge
of our conciences which they wish to overrule ; so that the Public
School Society — and I do not desire to detract from it as far as good
intentions are concerned — shall continue to dispose of the Public
School Fund notwithstanding our objections and reasoning on
[which they are based. The gentleman»who last spoke appeared to
[imagine that I wished the exclusion of the Protestant Bible, and
Ithat, for the benefit of the Catholics, I laid myself open to the
144 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
charge of enmity to the word of Gocl ; tut I desire nothing of the
sort. I would leave the Protestant Bible for those who reverence
it ; but for myself, it has not my confidence. Another objection
which he made was of a personal character to myself; but while
that gentleman started with the beautiful rule of charity to others,
and with a lecture on the propriety of retaining our station in life_,
and the impropriety of the public appeals of which he was pleased
to speak, I regret that his practice was not in accordance with his
precept— and that .while he was lecturing me on the subject, he him-
self should have gone beyond anything which proper discussion
called for. If I attended those meetings, it was because I felt the
evil of the present system as regards us — -not its evils as regards
others ; and we must be permitted to be the judges of our own
duties, and to see for ourselves, while we accord to others the same
right for themselves. I beg to disclaim any intention to overrule
this comraunity, or to bring anything from Rome, except to those
who believe in its spiritual authority. Consequently, all those re-
marks of that gentleman have been out of place ; and for the rest, I
conceive the true point has not been touched. N"ot one of our
objections or scruples of conscience has he undertaken to analyze,
nor the grounds on which they exist. When I gave those reasons
for our objections, I thought some argument would have been urged
fairly against them ; but the only end the gentleman appears to have
in view, is the preservation of the School Society, and to maintain
that they have a patent right to the office. That, I know, is his
object; but I did not expect to hear any man construing the law as
that its advantages, cannot reach us unless we lay down and sacrifice
our consciences at the threshold. I have spoken for myself, and I
have disclaimed all high-handed objects ; but the gentleman insists,
notwithstanding the pledge which we have given, that, in spite of
all, we shall teach our religion. I disclaim such intentions, and I do
not think it fair in that gentleman to impute intentions which we
disclaim. The gentleman has drawn a beautiful picture of society
if all could live in harmony (I would it could be reduced to prac-
tice), whether born in foreign parts or in this country. But if all
could be brought up together — if all could associate in such a state
without prejudice to the public welfare, while the Protestants use
such books as those to which we object, it could only be by the
Catholic concealing his religion ; for if he owns it he will be called
a " Papist." The gentleman says that one of the books to which
we object is not a text-book used in schools ; but, if not, it is one
of the books placed in the library to which I do not say we con-
tribute more than others ; but it is supported at the public expense,
to which Catholics contribute as well as others. I will read you
one passage and leave you to judge for jourselves what will be its
effects on the minds of our children.^ The work is entitled "The
Irish Heart," and the author, on page 24, is describing an Irish
Catholic, and he says : " As for old Phelim Maghee, he was of no
particular religion."
BEFOEE THE CITY COUNCIL, 145
And how do the gentlemen describe the Public Schools, but as
schools of religion and no religion ! They say they give religious
instruction ; but again they say it is not religion, for it does not
vitiate their claim.
"As for old Phelim Maghee, he was of no particular religion."
" When Phelim had laid up a good stock of sins, he now and then went over to
Killarney, of a Sabbath morning, and got relaaf by confisning them out o' the waj,
as he used to express it, and sealed up his soul with a wafer."
That is the term they apply to our doctrine of transubstantiation ;
and they want us to associate and to enjoy everything in harmony
when they thus assail our religious right.
" and return quite invigorated for the perpetration of new offences."
ITow, suppose Catholic children hear this in the company of their
Protestant associates ! They will be subject to the ridicule of their
companions, and the consequence will be that their dt)mestic and
religious attachments will become weakened, they become ashamed
of their religion, and they will grow up Nothing ariuns.
But again, on page 120, when speaking of intemperance, we find
the following :
" It is more probable, however, a. part of the papal system."
And this, notwithstanding all that Father Mathew has done.
" For, when drunkenness shall have been done away, and with it, that just re-
lative proportion of all indolence, ignorance, crime, misery, and superstition, of
which it is the putative parent ; then truly a much smaller portion of mankind
may be expected to follow the dark lantern of the Romish religion."
" That religion is most likely to find professors among the frivolous and the
wicked, which by a species of ecclesiastical legerdemain can persuade the sinner
that he is going to heaven, when he is going directly to hell. By a refined and
complicated system of Jesuitry, and prelatical juggling, the papal see has obtained
its present extensive influence through the world."
And, unless we send our children to imbibe these lessons, we are
going to overturn the system ! But is that the true conclusion to
which the gentlemen should come, from our petition ? Is that rea-
soniiig from facts and the evidence before their eyes ? I have
promised not to detain the Board, and therefore I would merely
say, if I have attended those meetings, it was not with the views the
gentleman has imputed to me, nor to distinguish myself as has been
insinuated. I have taken good care to banish politics from those
meetings, and if I have mentioned the number of Catholics, or of
their children, it was to show how far this system falls short of the
end which the Legislature has in view. I disclaim utterly and
entirely the intention imputed to me by the gentleman, but I will not
longer detain the Board.
Mr. Mott, one of the Public School Trustees, with the permission
of the Board, explained the manner in which the book which the
Right Rev. Prelate had last alluded to, had found its way into the
schools. It was one of a series of tales published by the Temperance
Society; and when a committee was appointed for filling the library,
10
146 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
their attention was called to the first number of the series ; they
had read two or three of them which had come from the press,_and
as they appeared adapted to the reading of children, the committee
admitted them, and by some mistake it was supposed that all the
other volumes of the same series and under the same title were
ordered too, and they were sent in as they were issued from the
press after that period, and in this way the book in question had
crept in. But this being discovered by a Catholic Trustee, it was
withdrawn, and of this the gentlemen were fully apprised, and
therefore he asked if it was generous or just to quote that book,
under these circumstances, to strengthen the cause of the Catho-
lics.
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes assured the gentleman that he,
until that moment, had not ^eard of the books having been with-
drawn.
The Rev. Dr. Bond then again rose to address the Board as the
representative of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; but as it was
now 10 o'clock, it was proposed by one of the aldermen to take a
recess until Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock which was agreed to, and
the Board adjourned.
■ The Board re-assembled at four o'clock on Friday the 30th October,
1840, by adjournment from the previous day, but some time elapsed
before the debate could be resumed, in consequence of the difficulty
which the gentlemen, who took part, in the proceedings, found in
gaining an entrance to the Council Chamber, through the greatly
increased crowd of persons who were anxious and struggling to be
present. After the room had been filled to overflowing, many hun-
dreds were still excluded who desired admission ; but the room was
filled to its utmost capacity, even to standing room in the windows,
and those still crowding round the entrance door were obliged to
endure the disappointment. David Graham, Esq., Alderman of the
Fifteenth Ward, presided on this occasion as the locum (enens of the
President, Mr. Alderman Purdy, who, however, was present seated
with the Aldermen. There were also present many distinguished and
reverend gentlemen of various denominations of this city, besides
those who took part in the discussion. Dr. Brownlee was seated
near Dr. Bond during that gentleman's speech, but he did not at-
tempt to address the Board. The Rev. Dr. Pise, and other rever-
end gentlemen of the Catholic Church, were seated with the Right
Rev. Bishop Hughes, and the Very Rev. Dr. Power, and many
preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were in the vicinity
of the orator by whom they were represented. "When all the gen-
tlemen were seated, the President called upon the Rev. Dr. Bond,
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to proceed with the debate on
behalf of the remonstrants of that body. When Drs. Bond, Knox,
Reese and Bangs had addressed the Council, Dr. Spring, of the Brick
Presbyterian Church arose, and in the course of his remarks, said :
'IThe gentleman has sought to prove that the present^system leads to
infidelity. Now, sir, let no man think it strange that I should prefer infr
BBFOEE THE CITY COtTNCIL. 14 7
tlelliy to Catholicism. Even a mind as acute as Voltaire's came to
the conclusion that, if there was no alternative between infidelity
and the dogmas of the Catholic Church, he should choose infidelity.
/ loovld choose, sir, in similar circumstances, to be a.fi infidel io-morroiv."
At the conclusion of Dr. Spring's harangue, the President called
upon the Right Rev. Dr. Hughes to conclude the debate, who im-
meditately arose to reply to the arguments of all the gentlemen
w,ho had been heard on the subject, and spoke as follows :
Mr. President, it would require a mind of much greater capacity
than mine to arrange and mature the topics, relevant or otherwise,
that have been introduced into this discussion, since I had the honor
to address you yesterday. No less than seven or eight gentlemen
of great ability have presented their respective views on the subject,
and not only on the subject in regard to its intrinsic merits, but on
subjects which they deemed, at least, collateral, but which I think
quite irrelevant. The gentleman who last addressed you (Dr.
Spring) is entitled to my acknowledgments for the candor with
which he expressed his sentiments in reference to it ; namely, that
he was opposed to it more because it came from Catholics, than if
it had been presented by any other denomination. That gentleman
is entitled to my acknowledgment, and I award it, if worthy df his
acceptance. The subject — for it is exceedingly. important that the
subject should be kept in view — is one, as I stated before, that is
very simple. We are a portion of this community ; we desire to
bo nothing greater than any other portion ; we are not content to
be made less. There is nothing, sir, in that system of the Public
School Society against which any of the gentlemen who have
spoken, either in their individual capacity or as the representatives
of bodies of people, have urged a single conscientious objection,
and, of course, they have no right to complain— they are satisfied,
and, therefore, I am willing that they should have the system, but I
am not willing that they should press it upon me, and for good
reason. And, sir, if this honorable body rejects the claim of your
petitioners, what is the issue ? That we are deprived of the bene-
fits to which we are entitled, and that we are not one iota worse
than we were before. That is our consolation. But the whole
range of the argument of the gentleman, who spoke last, was, to
show that this Public School System was got up with the concur-
rence of public opinion, and that having been so got up, it had
worked beautifully, and that gentlemen who never heard of con-
scientious objections to it, because it suits their views, deem it
wonderful that we can have any conscience at all on the subject.
That is the amount of it. What ! no ground for conscientious ob-
jection, when you teach our children in those schools that " the
deceitful Catholics " burned John Huss at the stake, for conscience,
when evidences are numerous before you of a more just and a more
honorable character — when you might find on the page of history,
that in Catholic Poland every avenue to dignity in the state was
opened to Protestants, by the concurrent vote of eight Catholic
148 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
Bishops, whilst the vote of any one of thorn, according to the con-
stitution of the PoHsh Diet, of which they were members, could
have prevented the law being passed — and what is more, when the
first lesson of universal toleration and freedom of conscience the
world was ever called to learn, was set by the Catholics of Mary-
land—I speak in the presence of gentlemen who can contradict me
if they know where to find the authority — and what was this but
homage to the majesty of conscience, by a Church which they wish
to establish as a persecuting Church. That Church, sir, which the
gentleman has come here to prove justifies the murdering of here-
tics, was the first to teach a lesson which Protestants have been
slow to learn and imitate, but which the reUgion they profess should
have taught them. But not these examples alone ; there are hun-
dreds more. At this day in Belgium, where Protestants are in a
minority of one to twelve, the state votes them an equal portion,
and where their clergy are married, a larger portion, and that with
the concurrence of the Council and the Catholic Bishops. The
gentleman need not tell me of Catholicism ; I know it well ; and
what is more, I know Protestantism well ; and I know the profes-
sions of good will of Protestants do not always correspond with
their feelings. But I should like to know whether or not in Protest- '
antism they find authority for persecuting to the knife, not Catho-
lics alone, but each other, even after they have proclaimed the right
of every man to think for himself. With good reason, sir, do I
contend for conscience, but theymay think a Catholic has no right
to have a conscience at all. They may think because this system is
beautiful in their view, that this pretension to conscience on the
part of Catholics ought to be stifled, as a thing not to be admitted
at all. But that will not do. Man in this country has a right to
the exercise of conscience, and the man that should raise himself up
against it will find that he has raised himself up against a tremen-
dous opponent. Now, what is it we ask ? You have heard from
beginning to end the arguments on this occasion, and though I may
not follow the wanderings of this discussion through all its minute
parts, if I pass over any part, be assured it is not from any desire
to avoid, or any inability to refute what has been said against us.
I may pass over many points, but I will not pass over any great
principle, and you have, no doubt, given so much attention to the
subject as to enable you, if I should not recapitulate the whole, to
decide justly. It has been urged, that if you give Catholics that
which they now ask, you will give them benefits which will elevate
them above others ; but, I contend most sincerely, and most consci-
entiously, that we have no such idea ; and when you shall have
granted the portion we claim, if you should be pleased to grant it,
I conceive then, and not before, shall we be in the enjoyment of
the protection, and not privilege, to which we are entitled. That is
my view of the subject ; but, I have been astonished to perceive
the course of argument of the gentlemen who oppose our claim,
generally speaking. What it is they contend for I cannot deter-
BEFOKE THE CITY COUNCIL. 149
mine ; but, it seems to be the preservation of the existing system.
They were among the first to disclaim the doctrine that the end
justifies the means, and if in attaining their end they find they ear-
not reach it without injustice, then as conscientious and high-mind-
eii men, the}^ should have paused by the way, and have ascertained
whether the means were worthy of them and of oui glorious
country. Yet, sir, they have generally overlooked this, and it is
no new thing to find that they have labored to promote the benefit
of their own society, at the sacrifice of the rights of others. Sir,
it is the glory of this country that when it is found that a wrong
exists, there is a power, an irresistible power, to correct the wrong.
They have represented us as contending to bring the Catholic
Scriptures into the Public Schools. This is not true ; but, I shall
have occasion to refer more particularly to this by and by. They
have represented us as enemies to the Protestant Scriptures " with-
out note and comment," and on this subject I know not whether
their intention was to make an impression on your honorable body,
or to elicit a sympathetic echo elsewhere; but, whatever their ob-,
ject was, they have represented that even here Catholics have not
concealed their enmity to the Scriptures. Now, if I had asked this
honorable Board to exclude the Protestant Scriptures from the
schools, then there might have been some coloring for the current
calumny. But I have not done so. I say, gentlemen of every de-
nomination, keep the scriptures you reverence, but do not force on
me that which my conscience tells me is wrong. I may be wrong,
as you may be ; and as you exercise your judgment, be pleased to
allow the same privilege to a fellow being, who must appear before
our common God and answer for the exercise of it. I wish to do
nothing like what is charged upon me — that is not the purpose for
which we petition this honorable Board, in the name of the commu-
nity to which I belong ; I appear here for other objects, and if our
petition be granted our schools may be placed under the supervi-
sion of the public authorities, or even of commissioners, to be ap-
pointed by the Public School Society ; they may be put under the
same supervision as the existing schools, to see that none of those
phantoms, nor any grounds for those suspicions which are as un-
charitable as unfounded, can have existence in reality. There is,
then, but one simple question — will you compel us to pay a tax
from which we c^n receive no beiftfit, and to frequent schools which
injure and destroy our religious rights in the minds of our children,
and of which in our consciences we cannot approve ? That is the
simple question. Or, will you appoint some other system, or will
you leave the children of our denomination to grow up in that state
of ignorance which the School Society has expressed its desire to
save them from ? Or shall the constable be employed, as one rever-
end gentleman seems to recommend (Dr. Bangs), or some public
officer to catch them and send them to school ? For, from this mo^
ment, in consequence of the language used, and the insulting pas-
sages which those books contain, Catholic parents ■will not send
150 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
their children there, and any attempts to enforce attendance^ would
meet with vigorous resistance from them. I have now presented
what is, in reality, the simple issue ; it is no matter whether we be-
lieve right or not, for neither the Catholic nor the Protestant re,-
ligion is on trial here ; and I repeat, therefore, that the gentleman
who represents the Methodist Church has taken so much painsto
distil through the minds of this meeting, a mass of prejudice^ which
it will take several hours, but at the same time very little beside, for
me to refute and scatter to the winds. I shall, perhaps, not dwell
long on that part, because I judge it is irrelevant to the case in hand,
but still I shall feel authorized to trespass on the patience of the
meeting a short time, though but a short time, to remove the im-
l^roper prejudice which may have been created.
He says that the people have a right to interfere and to give to
the children of the State an intellectual education, that this must be
carried out in some form or other, and that this system is as little
objectionable as any that could be presented. That may be ; I do
not dispute the possibility of it, because it is unimportant; but if
he did mean to contend that that system which has been once sanc-
tioned must continue to be sanctioned, although its sanction was
merely by the tacit consent of the different denominations, and
although it should become violative of the religious rights of any,
then he goes beyond the limits which even the Constitution of the
land has made sacred. I have been represented as endeavoring to
create excitement on this subject. To that I shall refer imme-
diately ; but I may here refer to my objection to the existing sys-
tem, on the ground that it has a tendency to infidelity, and may
observe that I know clergymen of other denominations who are
also opposed to it on the ground of its infidel tendency. There are
many who have the conviction that it tends to infidelity, and who
know that the preventive referred to is not equal to stem the ten-
dency to infidelity which does exist.
The first gentleman who spoke, and he spoke with a frankness
and sincerity for which I give him credit, contended — and when I
answer his objection, I wish to be understood as speaking to all that
took up that objection — and it wa^ urged more or less by the whole —
that it was inconsistent to charge upon the system a tendency to
;■ ijfidelity, and then a teaching of religion, and that this teaching was
anti-catholic. Now this would b^ inconsistent under some circum-
stances; but the gentleman left out the grounds on which that
charge was made, and it will be proper, therefore, that I should
state those grounds. In the document which emanated from the
Board of Assistants last spring, they say that the smallest particle
of religion is a disqualification, and that "religious instruction is no
paj't of a common school education." Now, was it the intention of
your honorable body to exclude all religion ? Was it the intention
of the State Legislature? Did any public authority requii e that
the public school education should be winnowed as corn on a barn
floor, and all religion driven out by the winds of heaven as chaff not
BEFORE THE CITY OOTTNCIL. 131
■worthy to be. preserved ? Was there such authority ? Who luado
such a decision ? And yet that very decision, I ask you, if we are
not authorized to interpret as proof of the charge, that the system
has a tendency to infidelity ? For, banish religion, and infidelity
alone remains. And, on the other hand, we find the gentlemen of
the Public School Society themselves repeatedly stating that they
inculcate religion, and give religious impressions ; and I say it does
them credit ; for as far as they can they ought to teach religion.
It -would be better, if they did, for those who are satisfied with
THEiE religious teaching. This explanation will set us right in tho
minds of your honorable body. It is first said no religion is taught
and then it is admitted that religion is inculcated ; and next our
petition is opposed because it is alleged that if our prayer be granted
religion will be taught. What weight, then, is the objection of the
Public School Society entitled to, if this be the fact? And where
is our inconsistency ? If there is a dilemma, to whom are we in-
debted for it but to the Report of the Board of Assistants on the
one hand, and to the testimony of the JPublic School Society on the
other. Let us not, then, be charged with inconsistency.
■ Now, sir, I contend there is infidelity taught. I do not mean in
its gross form ; but I have found principles ef infidelity in the
books — and one that would pass current as a very amiable book — a
rehgious lesson which I would not suifer a child to read, over whom
I had any influence. The lesson represents a father and his son
going about on Sunday morning to the different churches, the little
boy asking questions as they pass along from one to the other; at
last the boy said to his father — I may not quote the words, but I
shall be found right in substance — " What is the reason there are so
many different sects ! Why do not all people agree to go to the
same place, and to worship God iu the same way!" "And why
should it not be so '?" replied the father. " Why should they agree ?
Do not people differ in other things ? Do they not differ in their
taste and their dress — some like their coats cut one way and some
another — and do they not differ in their appetites and food ? and in
the hours they keep and in their diversion ?" N'ow, I ask if there
is no infidelity in that ? I ask if it is a proper lesson to teach chil-
dren, that as they have a right to form their own tastes for dress
and food, they have the right to judge for themselves in matters of
religion ? for, with deference to the Public School Society, children
are too young to have such principles instilled into them. Let '
them grow up, before they are left to exercise tEeir judgment in
such weighty matters ; at least, do not teach Catholic children such
a lesson at so early an age ; and', in all I have said, I desire to be
understood as abstaining most carefully from prescribing any rule,
or method, or book, for any denomination with which I am not con-
nected. But for Catholic children I speak, and I say it is too early
for them to judge for themselves. And is this all ? No, sir ; one
other passage, and for that 'there may perhaps be something to be
said as to its defence, because it in from the pen of an eminent
152 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
Protestant divine, the Bishop of London. I presume the Bishop of
London, when he wrote that passage, must have been writing on
some subject connected with infidehty ; he must have been writing
against infidehty, and indulging in a range of argument which might
be proper for sucli a subject, but out of place in the hands of com-
mon-school children. What was that passage ? Why, it is one
which represents the Divine Redeemer as a man of respectable
talents.
Mr. Ketchum rose, and intimated his doubt of such a passage
being in the books.
The Right Rev. Prelate continued. I have read it in their
books, but the Trustees hare recalled them. I hope not for the
purpose of depriving me of the opportunity of quoting the page.
Such a lesson is now to be found in one of the books, which repre-
sents the Divine Redeemer as showing uncommon quickness of pen-
etration and sagacity. I ask whether such a lesson is a proper one
for children, and whether such is the instruction to be given to them
of the Redeemer of the world ? The gentleman- who first spoke,
said it was not in reality religion that was taught, but mere moral-
ity that was inculcated — the propriety of telling the truth and of
fulfilling all moral (pities. If this be true, it is still strange that the
School Society should prefer the word " religious." He did not
deny that it Avas a kind of religion, and that the precepts of
the Decalogue were inculcated, and while the Public School Society
admit that religion is inculcated — and the legal gentleman, their
representative, does not disclaim it, so far as it forms the ground-
work of a good moral character — it may be taken as admitted.
And now, if they teach rehgion, let us know what it is to be. Let
them not delegate to the teachers, some of whom may teach one
religion, some another, the authority or permission to make " reli-
gious impressions," to give " religious instruction," to give a " right
direction to the mind of youth," and all the other phrases which we
find in their documents. Now, on the subject of religion and morals,
would they teach morals without rehgion, which I conceive will be
found as visionary as castle-building in the air. Mr. Ketchum says
they are taught not to lie, but without religion he furnishes no mo-
. tive for not lying. If a man tells me not to lie, when it is my interest
to lie, I, as a rational being, want a motive for telling the truth.
My love of gain tells me if I lie, and lie successfully, it wnll add to my
fortune ; and if I am told to abstain from lying, at the risk of my
fortune, let me have a reason. But if I am told there is God to
whom I am accountable, that is a motive ; but, then, it is a teaching
of religion. Yes, sir, when I am told there is a God, I am taught
religion ; and therefore I am astonished that the Report Avhich has
gone forth from the other Board should declare that the smallest
teaching of religion vitiates the claim. You may as well think to
build an edifice without a foundation, as to pretend to produce
moral effects without religious belief.
There may not be the details of religion, but there must be the
BEPOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 15?
principle, to a certain extent, otherwise you cannot lay the founda-
tion of good morals for men. Now, sir, I will show you that Mr.
Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, who had no religious belief what-
ever, in his will, by which he bequeathed large sums of money for
the purpose of procuVing great and material benefits to society — but
which has been looked upon by many Christians, of every denomi-
nation, in Philadelphia, rather as a curse than a blessing — even he
speaks of morality without religion nearly as the Public School
Society does. He says :
" Secondly, I enjoin and require tbat no ecclesiastic", missionary, or minister, of
any sect wliatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty whatsoever
in the said College ; nor shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose,
or as a visitor, ■within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said Col-
lege. In making this restriction, I do not mean to cast any reflection upon any
sect or person whatever ; but, as there is such a multitude of sects, and such a
diversity of opinion amongst them, I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans
■who are to derive advantage from this bequest free from the excitement which
clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce. My Hesire is,
that all the instructors and teachers in the College shall take pains to instill into
the minds of "the scholars the purest principles of imorality, so that on their en-
trance into active life they may, from inclination and habit, evince benevolence
towards their fellow-creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry, adopt-
ing at the same time such religious tenets as their matured reason may enable
them to prefer."
He left two millions of dollars to the city of Philadelphia, pro-
vided that poor orphans should be brought up to respect infidelity.
He did not say a word against religion, but he took care to stand
by, not personally, but by his executors, in his will, to prevent its
precepts being inculcated in the minds of those who are the depen-
dents on his bounty. They were to have the purest principles of
morals instilled into their minds ; but the attempt is vain when re-
ligion is not placed as the foundation of morals.
He, like the Public School Society, stands by to see th.at the pot-
ter shall give no form to the vase, till the clay grows stiff and hard-
ened. Then it will be too late.
The gentlemen also made objection to our schools, because, he
said, they were in our churches. The fact is, we were obliged to
provide them where we could, and our means would permit ; and
there are some of them in the basement of our churches. And he
conceived it impossible to keep them from sectarian influence, be-
cause the children would be within hearing of the chant of divine
service ; as though sectarianism depended on geographical distances
from church. But this could not have been a valid objection, be-
cause the Public School Society has had not only schools under
churches, but in the session rooms of churches.
I shall refer now to the learned gentlemen who followed him (Mr.
Ketchum), and I can only say that this gentleman,' with a great deal
of experience in this particular question, really seems to me to con-
firm all I say on the ground we have taken. I know he lectured me
pretty roundly on the subject of attending the meetings held under
154 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
St. James' church. I know he did more for me than the Pope : the
Pope " mitred" me but once, but he did so three or four times dur-
ing the course of his address. He read me a homily on the duties
of station ; and he so far forgot his country and her principles, as to
call it a " descent" on my part, when I mingled in a popular meet-
ing of freemen. But it was no descent ; and I hope the time will
ne\-er come when it will be deemed a descent for a man in office to
mingle with his fellow-citizens when convened for legitimate and
honorable purposes.
But from his speech it would appear, that his experience has been
obtained by the discharge of the duty of standing advocate of de-
nial ; and yet, with all his experience and opportunities of research,
his inability to overturn our grounds confirms me in the conviction
that they are not to be removed, e\en by the aid of splendid talents ;
for that speech, like most others, went on the false issue that we
want privileges. But we want no privilege. That speech, like the
speech from the throne, might have been the speech of years past,
and might have been stereotyped ; for its only novelty, which proved
to me that it was not all the work of antiquity, was the part which
appertained to mysfelf. And not only that, but I have to say, that
when I came into this hall — and it is the first time I ever stood in
an assembly of this description — I felt that I was thrown on the
hospitality of the professional gentleman ; and I think if I and that
gentleman could have exchanged places, I should not have looked
so hard at him as he did at me. In fact, throughout that speech he,
with peculiar emphasis, and a manner which he may, perhaps, have
acquired in his practice in courts of law, fixed upon me a steady
gaze — and he has no ordinary countenance — and addressed me so
solemnly, that I really expected every moment he would forget him-
self, and say "the prisoner at the bar." (Laughter.) He did not,
however. Pie passed that over ; and whilst I recognize and respect
the ^' human face divine," because God made it to look upward, I may
here observe, that it has no power to frighten me, even if it wdvld
be terrible ; and therefore I was not at all disturbed by the hard
looks which he gave me. The gentleman will pardon me, I hope^ in
this, for it is natural enough, after what has been said — though, I
know it was said in good humor, to claim the privilege to retort.
Well, sir, this was not all, but he told us something about going
to the stake. He was sure, if any of the public money was voted to
the denomination of a reverend gentleman, whose name I will not
mention, the Catholics would go to the stake, l^ow, sir, we have
no intention to do so. We know the public money does go to the
support of religion ; it_goes to the support of chaplaincies, theologi-
cal seminaries, imiversities, and chaplains of institutions whose ap-
pointments are permanent ; and be it remembered, that one of the
first lectures delivered in one institution, the University of this city,
which was aided from the public funds, was on the anti-republican
tendency of Popery. And yet we did not go to the stake for that;
and why ? Because, though our portion of taxation mingles with
BEPOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 155
the rest, we have no objections to the use of it wliich the law pre-
scribes, so long as no inalienable rights of our own are involved in
the sacrifice.
But, again, he said, if any of the money was appropriated to the
Catholic religion, Protestants would go to the stake. I will not
say whether Protestants are so exclusive ; while we submit to taxa-
tion for Protestant purposes, without going to the stake, whether,
if we participate, they will go to the stake, is not for me to say.
Then he came to the Protestant Bible, " -without note or comment ;"
and " it was hard for him to part with that translated Bible." lie
stood by it, and repeated that " it was hard to give up the Bible,"
just as if I had said one word against it ; and as if I was about lo
bring the Pope to banish it out of the Protestant world, or wished
to deprive any man who venerates it of any Use he may think proper
to make of it. And there, again, he looked so much as if he were
in earnest, that, at one time, I thought he was actually about to rush
to the " stake." But there was no stake there to go to, except that
which he holds in the exchequer of the Public School Society. It is
a most comfortable way of going to martyrdom.
Sir, the gentleman taunted me for having attended the public
meetings of Catholics on this subject, and he imputed the prejudice
which exists against the Public School system to the observations I
have made, as though it were of my creation. In answer to that I
may state, what has been the fact for years, that Catholics have been
struggling to have schools, and to the extent of their means we
have them ; and what is the reason ? Do you suppose that we
should impose additional burdens upon ourselves, if we were sat-
isfied with those Public Schools ? Do you suppose we should
have paid for our bread a second time, if that which these schools
offered had not, in our opinion, been turned to a stone ? No, the
existence of our own schools proves that I ha\e not excited the
prejudice ; but still it is at all times my duty to warn my people
against that which is destructive or violative to the religion they
profess ; and if they abandon their religion they are free ; but so
long as they are attached to our religion, it is my duty, as their
pastor, as the faithful guardian of their principles and morals, to
warn them when there is danger of imbibing poison instead of whole-
some food. That is the reason ; and I am sorry that he has not
found a motive less unworthy of me than that he has been pleased
to assign.
Then — and I may as well take up the question now as elsewhere —
it has been said that it is conceived to be an inconsistency in our
argument, that we object to the Public Schools because religion is
taught in them, and yet, in the schools which we propose to estab-
lish, or rather, which we have established, but for -wjiich we now
plead, we profess to teach no sectarianism ; and the qtiestion arises,
" if you are opposed to religion in these schools because it is secta-
rianism, how can you teach religion in your schools, and yet your
schools n6t be sectarian ?" This is the position in which they place
156 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOI^^D SPEECH .
ns ; and it; answer I have to state, that, in the first place, we do not
intend to teach religion. We shall be willing that they shall be
placed nnder the same inspection that the Public Schools are now;
and if it should be found that religion is taught, we will be willing
that you shall cut them off. You shall be the judges. You may see
that the law is complied with, and if we violate it, let ns be deprived
of the benefits for which the conditions were prescribed. But there
is neutral ground on which onr children may learn to read and
cipher. If they read, it must be something that is written ; words
are signs of ideas, and in the course of their instruction they may
be made so to shape their studies as to loathe Catholicism, without
learning any other religion. And this could be produced, not alone
in reference to Catholics, but Presbyterians, Methodists, Unitarians,
or any other. They might find that their children disregard their
«wn religion, while they are not taught any other. Suppose the
Presbyterians,' or any other denomination, were in the minority, and
Catholics were numerically what Protestants are now, and therefore
were able to decide what lessons their children should read in these
schools, I ask you if the gentleman would not conceive he had rea-
sonable objections, if they had forced upon them a system of educa-
tion which teaches that their denomination, past, present, and td
come, was deceitful? ISTow, take up these books, which teach all
that is infamous in our history ; which teach our children about the
"execution of Cranmer," the "burning of Huss," and "the character
of Luther." If such a practice were reversed, what would he do ?
Now, in our schools, I would teach them ; I would give our chil-
dren lessons for exercise in reading, that should teach them that
when the young tree of American liberty was planted, it was watered
with Catholic blood, and that therefore we have as much right to
everything common in this country as others. I should teach them
that Catholic bishops and Catholic barons at Runneymede wrung
the charter of our liberties — the grand parent of all known liberty
in the world — from the hands of a tyrant. I should teach them
where to find the bright spots on our history, though the gentleman
who represents the Methodists knew not where they were to be
found. This I would do, and should I violate the law ? If, instead
of the burning of Huss, I gave them a chapter on the character of
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, as a reading lesson, would that be
teaching them of purgatory, and the doctrine of Transubstantiation ?
But if our circumstances were reversed, so that Catholics con-
trolled the public schools, would not Presbyterians have a right to
complain ?— and should not we be tyrants while we refused to listen
to their complaints, if we spread before their children lessons on the
burning'of Servetus by Calvin, and on the hangings of members of the
Society of Friends by those who held Calvin's doctrines ? I should
listen to their appeal in such a case with feelings far different from
those manifested by them in regard to others. But I would do
more, in order that those little vagrants, of whom the gentleman
speaks, might come into school. Their j)arents themselvfts having
BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 157
by persecution been deprived, in many instances, of an education, do
not fully appreciate its advantages, and if you seek to enforce the
attendance of their children, they will resist; if you attempt to
coerce them you -will not succeed. But if you put them in a way
to be admitted without being dragged by force to the school, or
without destroying their religious principles when they enter (which
you have no right to do), then you will prepare good citizens, edu-
cated to the extent that will make them useful to their country.
Then their parents, having confidence in their pastors, will send
their children to schools approved of by them — and the children
themselves may attend schools where they need not be ashamed of
their creed, and where their companions will not call them " Papists,"
and tell them that ignorance and vice are the accompaniments of
their religion. That will be the result, and I conceive it will be
beneficial.
Much has been said about the distinction between morality and
religion, and about those certain broad principles on which it is
thought all can agree. And yet our opponents contend — and I am
surprised at the circumstance — gentlemen who are not only Chris-
tians themselves, but Christian ministers, contend all through for
the rights of those who are not of the Christian religion, but are
commonly called infidels. An attempt has been made to draw a
distinction between morality and religion. "I have already said, and
there is not a gentleman here who will pretend to deny it, that mo-
rality must rest on religion for its basis. I refer you, and it is not
an ordinary authority, to a man who passed through life with the
most beautiful character and the most blameless reputation that ever
fell to the lot of a public man ; one who was distinguished almost
above all other men ; one, of whom it would be profane to say that
he was inspired, yet, of Avhom history has not handed down one
useless action, or one single idle word, a man who left to his coun-
try an inheritance of the brightest example, and the fairest name
^that ever soldier or statesman bequeathed to a nation — that man was
Geoege Washingtos-. Hear what he says in his Farewell Ad-
dress, on the attempt now being made to preserve morality whilst
religion is discarded from the public schools.
" Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion
and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the trib-
ute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happi-
ness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician,
equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them, A volume could
not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it be simply
asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of re-
ligious obligations deseet the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in
courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality
can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence
of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both for-
bid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious prin-
<aple.
" 'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular
government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of
158 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon
attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ?"
Such is the warning, the solemn warning of this great man. If
you take away religion, on what foundation do you propose to rear
the structure of morality ? No— they stand to each other m the
relation of parent and offspring, or rather they are kmdred prm-
ciples from the same divine source, and what God has jomed to-
gether, let no man put asunder.
Now, with regard to all said by me against the Protestant Bible,
I appeal to this honorable body whether I ever said one word
hostile to that Bible ; and yet, from the address of the gentlemen
on the other side, men abroad, who should read their speeches,
would be led to believe that I not only entertained, but that I had
uttered sentiments of hostility to that work. And it is ever thus
that our principles and our feelings are misrepresented,^ while gentle-
men profess to be conscious of entertaining no prejudice against us
as Catholics. One gentleman, however, avowed his hostility to us
on this ground, and for his candor I tender my acknowledgment.
The whole effort of some of the gentlemen, indeed of all who have
spoken on the subject, has been to show that the system must be
made so broad and liberal that all can agree in it — but I think they
contend for too much when they wish so to shape religion and
balance it on its pedestal as to make it suit every body and every
sect ; for if infidels are to be suited, and it is made to rconcile them
to the system, I want to know whether Catholics or any other class
are not entitled to the right to have it made to suit them. And if
everybody is to be made satisfied, why is it that Catholics and
others are discontented and excluded ? Is it not manifest that what
they profess to accomplish is beyond their reach ? Now the infidels
have found able advocates in the reverend gentlemen who have spoken
in the course of this discussion — I mean the interests of infidelity —
and why is it, then, that the gentlemen who plead for that side of
the question, enter their protest against ours ? I should like to
know why there is this inconsistency. If the rule is to be general,
why is itjiot general ?
I pass now to the reasoning of one learned gentleman who spoke
yesterday, and defended the Protestant Bible. Now this was un-
necessary in that gentleman — it was in him a work of supereroga-
tion to vindicate the Protestant Scriptures — it was useless to defend
a point which had not been attacked. It was time lost ; and yet,
perhaps, not altogether lost ; for in some respects it may have been
profitable enough. In entering on its defence, he said it was the
instrument of human liberty throughout the world — wherever it
was, there was light and liberty ; and where it was not, there was
bondage and darkness ; and he brought it round so, that he almost
asserts that our Declaration of independence has been copied from
the Bible. No doubt the just and righteous principles on which
that Declaration has its foundation, have their sanction in the Bible,
but I d«ny their immediate connection, and on historical grounds,
BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 159
for it is known that its author looked u^on St. Paul as an imposter ;
consequently their connection is not historically true. But while
the gentleman referred to our notes (but which we disown and re-
pudiate), as containing principles of persecution — how was it that
after the Protestant Bible, " without note and comment," came into
use, every denomination of Protestants in the whole world that had
the misfortune, for it must have been a misfortune, to be yoked to
civil power, wielded the sword of persecution, and derived their
authority for so doing from the nalced text? Yes, in Scotland, in all
her confessions of faith — in England, and I appeal to her penal laws
against Catholics, and those acts by which the Puritans and Dis-
, senters were pursued, men who had the misfortune, like ourselves,
to have a conscience, were driven out, and all was done on the autho-
rity of the Bible, without note or comment, and for the public good
and the good of the Church. I do not say that the Bible sanctioned
persecution, but I deny that the absence of notes is an adequate
preventive. I refer to history. And almost to this day, though
the Bible has been translated three hundred years, even in liberal
governments, the iron heel of persecution has been placed on the
dearest rights of Catholics. The gentleman to whom I alluded
said, no doubt, what he knew would be popular out of doors,
for he' seems, with others, to imagine that the world began at the
period of the Reformation. Ho seems to think that everything
great originated at that period. But does he not know that eight
hundred editions of the Bible had been printed before the Reforma-
tion ? And does he not know that two hundred editions had been
circulated in the common tongue, in the common language of the
country ? And has he yet to learn that the first prohibition to read
the Bible came not from a Catholic, but from a Protestant — from
Protestant Henry VHI., of " glorious memory ?" He was the first
to issue a prohibition, and it was not till Catholics saw the evil — not
of the Bible, but the bad uses men were making of the Bible, that
they placed its perusal under certain restrictions, and cautioned their
people against hastily judging of it for themselves. All had been
united and harmonious, but by the use, or abuse, which men made
of the Bible, all became doubt and speculation, the positive revela-
tion of Christ was shaken or destroyed. They saw this Bible, and
what then ? But, while these school gentlemen contend that it is
a shield against infidelity, and that all sects here agree, how is it out
of the schools? Why, no sects agree upon it. How is it that the
Bible, which is given by the inspiration of God, the God of truth,
is made use of in this city even, to prove a Trinity, and to disprove
a Trinity? How is it that Trinitarians quote it to prove their doc-
trines, and Unitarians quote it to establish the opposite doctrines ?
How is it that whilst one says from the Bible that God the Father
is God alone, and that Christ is not equal to Him, for He says, " J%e
Father is greater than /," another argues from the same Bible that
the Father and Son are equal, because Christ says '■'■The Father and
I are one P^ And another comes with tho Bible in his hand, and
160 AECHBISHOP HUGHES SECOND SPEECH
says, I believe, and I can prove it from this Bible that Christ alone
is the Almighty God, and the Father and the Spirit are only attri-
butes of the same person ! Why, this Bible which they say is the
foundation of Jill truth, and they say well, when it is truly under-
stood, a grace which God can vouchsafe, and, no doubt. He does to
many, this Bible is harmonious in its every doctrine. But that is
not the point — the point is the uses we see men make of it, and this
is the sum of our reason that we wish our children not to be taught
in the manner in which Protestant children are taught in reference
to the Bible.
And then, again, if you teach that there is a hell, according to
the Bible, others will contend that the Scriptures teach no such doc-,
trine, and so I might pass on to other points, to show you whilst
they thus contend for the Bible as the guide to truth, there is this
disagreement among them, at least in this country, where human
rights and liberties are understood as allowing every man to judge
for himself. Is there not, then, danger — is there no ground to ap-
prehend that when our children read this Bible, and find that all
these different sects father all their contradictions on the Bible as
their authority, they will derive their first notions of infidelity from
these circumstances ? But there is another ground on which it is
manifest we cannot allow our children to be taught by them.
Whilst we grant them the right to take, if they please, the Protes-
tant Bible as the rule of their faith, and the individual right to
judge of the Bible — and this great principle they proclaim as the
peculiar and distinctive, and most glorious trait in their religious
character and history — and let them boast of it, there is no diiiiculty
on the subject — they interpret the Bible by the standard of reason,
and therefore, as there is no given standard of reason — as one has
more and another less — they scarcely ever arrive at the same result,
while the Bible, the eternal Word of God, remains the same. But
this is not a Catholic principle. Catholics do not believe that God
has vouchsafed the promise of the Holy Spirit to every individual,
but that He has given His Spirit to teach the Church collectively,
and to guide the Church, and therefore we do not receive as the
Bible except what the Church guarantees ; and wanting this guar-
antee, the Methodist gentleman failed to establish the book, which
he produced with its notes, as a Catholic Bible. We do not take
the Bible on the authority of a " King's Printer," who is a specu-
lating publisher, who publishes it but as a speculation. And why ?
Because by the change of a single comma, that which is positive
may be made negative, and vice versa, and then is it the Bible of the
inspired writers ? It is not. They proclaim, then, that theirs is a
Christianity of reason ; of this they boast, and let them glory. Ours
is a Christianity of faith; ours descends by the teaching of the
Church ; Ave are never authorized to introduce new doctrines, be-
cause "vve contend that no new doctrine is true, from the time of the
apostles, unless it has come from the mind of God by a special reve-
lation, and to us that is not manifest among the reformers. We aro
BEFOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 161
satisfied to trust our eternal interests, for weal or woe, on the se-
curity of tliat Catholic Church, and the veracity of the divine prom-
ises. You perceive, therefore, that PjwDtestants may agree in the
system where this Bible is thus introduced ; but it is not in accord-
ance with the principles of Catholics, that each one shall derive
therefrom his own notions of Christianity. It is not the principle
of Catholics, because they believe in the incompetence of individual
reason, in matters of such importance. It is from this self-sufficiency
and imputed capacity that men derive such notions of self-confidence.
which, owing to a want of power to control in some domestic cir-
cles, if taught to our children, lead to disobedience and disregard
of the parental authority.
I have been obliged to enter into this, which is rather theological
than otherwise, to put you in possession of the true ground. We
do not take the Protestant Bible, but we do not wish others not
to take it if they desire it. If conscience be stifled, you do not
make us better men or better citizens, and therefore I say, gentle-
men, respect conscience, even though you think it in error, jsrovided
it does not conflict with the public rights.
I have sufficiently disposed of the addresses of the two legal gen-
tlemen who have spoken. I will now call the attention of this hon-
orahle body to the remarks of the reverend gentleman who spoke in
relation to the Rhemish Testament. I did use, sir, yesterday an
expression which I used with reluctance ; but when we were charged
before this honorable body — when the reverend gentleman who
represents a numerous denomination, charged us with teaching the
lawfulness of murdei'ing heretics, that expression carae on me as
a thunderbolt, because I thought that truth should proceed from the
lips of age and a man of character. And, sir, I knew that position
was not true, and that it was an easy matter to assert a thing, but
not so easy to disprove it. I might take advantage of circumstan-
ces to charge a man with things that it would take weeks to dis-
prove, and therefore I thought it necessary to nail that slanderous
statement to the counter before it could have its designed influence
here or elsewhere. That gentleman began with great humility,
and with professions of being devoid of prejudice, and then he said
that those meetings to which he referred, and which he called "pub-
lic gatherings," had caused him to feel greatly alarmed about this
question, as if the stability of your Republic was endangered, pro-
vided Catholic children received the benefits of a common school
education ! He said I had applied certain remarks to the creed of
the Society of Friends, and, though perhaps it was somewhat out
of order, but wishing to set the gentleman right, I denied that I had
done so. But since then the reporter has handed me the notes taken
of what I did say, and from them also it appears that I said no such
thing. He referred.to the practice of teaching religion in the schools ;
but of that I have disposed already.
He then, while going through the introductory part of the re-
monstrance of the Methodist Episcopal Church, threw out constantly
11
163 ARCHBISHOP HTTGHES SECOND SPEECH
calumnious charges against the Catholic Church and the Catholic
religion ; he did not throw them out as assertions but by inuendo, as
"if it be true," and "I should like to know," as if I am here for the
pui'pose of supplying everything he would "like to know." .And how
can I meet him when insinuation is the form in which his charges
are thrown out? Why, their very feebleness takes from an opponent
the power of refutation. But when he comes to something tangible,
then I can meet him. Having gone through a series of insinuations,
he misrepresents our intentions, notwithstanding we disclaim such
an intention, he indulges in the gratuitous supposition that if
your honorable body should grant our petition, we shall secretly
teach the Catholic religion. But if we do, is not the law as potent
against us as against the public schools ? If they teach religion, as
they acknowledge, why may not we ? We. are not grasping to
obtain power over others, but we desire in sincerity to benefit a por-
tion of our own neglected children. I shall pass over, therefore,
a great deal of what the gentleman " would like to know," for I do
not know if it is of importance to the subject. He said this Rhemish
Testament was published by authority ; but he began by a retreat,
and not by a direct charge : he did " not profess to say that our
Church approved of it ;" but it was printed and published, and it
was not on the " Index," as if every bad book in the world must be
in the Index; and with this evidence of fact, he comes here and
spreads before the American people the slander and calumny that the
Catholics by their notes and comments teach the lawfulness of mur-
dering heretics. Now, sir, I will take up that book and the parts
he read with the notes, giving an explanation as though they came
from Catholics. Do you know the history of that book, sir ? If
not, I can tell you. When Queen Elizabeth scourged the Catholics
from, their altars, and drove them into exile, these men held a com-
mon notion, which was natural and just, that England was their
country, and that they were suiFering unmerited persecution. The
new religion, not satisfied with toleration for itself, grasped the sub-
stance of things, grasped the power of the State, seized all their
temples ; and not even satisfied with this, scourged the Catholics
from their home and country ; and they did write these notes, and
why? They wrote them in exile, smarting under the lash and the
torture, and in connection, too, with a plan for the invasion of Eng-
land by PhiUp II. of Spain. Their object was to disseminate amongst
Catholics of England disaffection to Queen Elizabeth, and thus
dispose them to join the true Catholics and oppose the heretics,
because the heretics were their enemies, were the enemies of their
rights, and had crushed them. But when that book appeared in
England, was there a single approval given it, a single Catholic that
received it ? Not one. When it was published for political ends —
to aid the invasion of Philip — did the English Catholics receive it ?
Never. But the gentleman said it was published by the Bishops of
Ireland, and with their approbation, and with the approbation of a
great number of the Catholic clergy; and this after his own ad-
BEFOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 103
mission that, insomuch as it had not been approved by the Holy
See, the Bishop of Rome, it was not of authority in the Cathohc
Church. Now I shall take up both parts, and first I should like to
know where is his authority •'hat it was published by the Bishops
of Ireland ? I pause for a i eply, and I shall not consider it an
interruption.
Dr. Bond. Do you wish an answer ?
Bishop Hughes. I do, sir; I desire yoiir authority.
Dr. Bond. Why, if we are to believe history, it is true ; it ia
stated in the "British Critic."
Bishop Hughes. Oh ! I am satisfied.
Dr. Bond. It could not have been reviewed, if it did not exist.
Bishop Hughes. Oh ! it is here ; and that proves its existence,
without the " British Critic." It was gone out of print again, and
not a Catholic now heard of it ; but your liberal Protestant clergy-
men of New York republished it. What for ? To bring infamy
on the Catholic name ; and it was from this Protestant edition, and
not from Ireland, that the Methodist gentleman received it. I am
now not surprised at his saying so often that he would " like to
know," for a little more knowledge would be of great advantage to
him. I need not read it.
Dr. Bond. Oh, you had better.
Bishop Hughes. Well, sir, anything to accommodate you.
" It is a remarkiible fact, that notwithstanding the whole New Testament, as it was
translated and explaincid by the members of the Jesuit College at Rheims, in 1582,
has been republished in a great number of editions, and their original annotations,
either more or less extensively, have been added to the text ; yet as a work it is
appealed to as an authority ; the Roman Church admit both the value of the book
and the obligation of the Papists to believe its contents. We have no more strik-
ing modern instance to prove this deceitfulness."
It must be recollected that this is a Protestant publication ; the
Catholics did not circulate it, but the Protestant ministers did, to
mislead their flocks and to bring infamy on their Catholic fellow-
citizens.
" The Douay Bible is usually so called, because although the New Testament
was first translated aud published at Rheims, yet the Old Testament was printed
some years after at Douay; the English Jesuits having removed their monastery
from Rheims to Douay, before their version of the Old Testament was completed.
In the year 1816, an edition, including both the Dnuay Old, and the Rhemish Kew
Testament, was issued at Dublin, containing a large number of comments, replete
with impiety, irreligion, and the most fiery persecution. That edition was }jub-
lished under the direction of all the dignitaries of the Roman Hierarchy in Ire-
land, and about three hundred others of the most influential subordinate priests."
Now, I called for the gentleman's evidence of this, and the gen-
tleman was found minus habens — he has it not to give. The prints
said so, and he believed the prints ! Now, sir, this is a grave charge,
and I am disposed to treat it gravely ; but I should not feel worthy
of the name of a man, I should feel myself unworthy of being a mem-
ber ol the American family, if I had not rifien and repelled such a
charge as it deserved.
164 ABCHBrSHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
Dr. Bond. You have not read all I read.
Bishop Hu GHEs. I will read all the gentleman may wish, if he
will not keep me here reading all night.
" The notea which urged the hatred and murder of Protestants, attracted the
attention of the British churches, and, to use the words of T. Hartwell Home, that
edition of the Rhemish Testament, printed at Dublin in 1816, corrected and revised
and approved by Dr. Troy, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, was reviewed
by the ' British Critic,' vol. viii., pp. 296-308 ; new series ; and its dangerous tenets,
both civil and religious, were exposed."
That is the testimony.
Dr. Bond. There is another paragraph.
Bishop Hughes. Well, I will read the other.
" This publication, with many others of a similar character produced so great an
excitement in Britain, that finally some of the most prominent of the Irish Roman
prelates we»e called before the English Parliament to prove their own work. Then,
and upon oath, with all official Bolemnity, they peremptorily disclaimed the vol-
umes published by their own instigation, and under their own supervision and aus-
pices, as books of no authority; because they had not been ratified by the Pope,
and received by the whole Papal church."
Now, what authority have we for this charge of perjury against
the Irish bishops, better than the gentleman's own ? It is so stated
here ; what authority is there for that ?
Dr. Bond. It was so stated before the British Parhament.
Bishop Hughes. I should regret, on account of your age, if I
used any expression that might be deemed harsh.
Dr. Bond. Take the liberty to say what you please.
Bishop Hughes. With regard to these notes, I have to observe,
that they were written in an age (1582) when the rights of con-
science were but little understood. Protestants in that age every-
where persecuted, not only Catholics, but each other. And long
after, the Puritans of New England, with the Bible, and without
notes, persecuted with torture, and even to hanging their fellow-
Protestants. It was not wonderful, therefore, if in such an age
Catholics were found to entertain the opinions set forth in the notes.
But, bad as they are, it is remarkable that they do not sustain the
calumnious charge of the reverend gentleman, that they " teach the
lawfulness of murdering heretics."
And now, sir, let me call your attention to the book itself.
In the 13th chapter of St. Matthew there is this text, at the 29th
verse. It occurs in the parable of the cockle (in the Protestant
version, (ares) and the wheat, in answer to Christ's disciples, who
asked : " Wilt thou that we gather it up ?" And he said, " No : lest
perhaps, gathering tip the cockles, you may root up the wheat also to-
gether with it." The annotation on this is :
" Ver. 29. Lest youphick uy also. The good must tolerate the evil, when it is
so strong that it cannot be repressed without danger and disturbance of the whole
Chiirch, and commit the matter to God's judgment in the latter day. Otherwise,
where ill men, be they heretics or other malefactors; may be punished or sup^
pressed without disturbance and hazard of the good, they may, and ought, by
public authority, either spiritua; (r temporal, to be chastised or executed.''
BEFOKB THE CITY COUNCIL. 165
They may and ought, " hy public authority /" Why, the propo-
Bition of the gentleman was, that Catholics were taught to kill their
Protestant neighbors. Now, there is not throughout the whole
volume a proposition so absurd as the idea conveyed by hhn. Bad
as the notes are, they require falsification to .bear him out.
Again, Luke ix. 64-55: "And when his disciples James and John
had see7i it, they said, Lord wilt thou we say that fire come down from
heaven and consume them? And turning, he rebuked them, saying,
You know not of what spirit you are." Annotation:
Ver. 55. He rebuked them. Not justice, nor all rigorous punishment of sinners
is here forbidden, nor Elias's fact reprehended, nor the Church or Christian princes
blamed for putting heretics to death. But none of these should be done for desire
of our particular revenge, or without discretion and regard of their amendment,
and" example to others. Therefore Peter used his power upon Ananias and Saphira
when he struck them both down to death for defrauding the Church."
*
I am afraid I shall fatigue this honorable body by going over
these notes ; nor is it necessary that I should follow the gentleman
in all his discursive wanderings. There is nothing in this to author-
ize the murdering of heretics.
But again, Luke xiv. 23. "And the Lord said to the servant, Go
forth unto the ways and hedges ; and compel them to enter, thai my
house may be filled." Annotation :
" Compel them.. The vehement pei'suasion that God uaeth, both externally, by
force of his word and miracles, and internally by his grace, to bring us unto him,
is called compelling: not that he forceth any one to come to him against their
wills, but that he can alter and mollify a hard heart, and make him willing, that
before would not. Augustine, also, referreth this compelling to the penal laws,
which Catholic princes do justly use against heretics and schismatics, proving that
they who are by their former profession in baptism subject to the Catliolio Church,
and are departed from the same after sects, may and ouglit to be compelled into
the unity and society of the Universal Church again ; and therefore, in this sense,
by the two former parts of the parable, the Jews first, and secondly the Gentiles,
that never believed before in Christ, were invited by fair, sweet means only; but
by the third, such are invited as the -Church of God hath power over, because they
promised in baptism, and therefore are to be revoked not only by gentle means,
but by just punishment also."
Sir, the punishment of spiritual offences and the allusions here
made to it, have their roots too deep and too wide-spreading to be
entered into and discussed in the time that I could occupy this eve-
ning. It would be impossible to go over the historical grounds
which suggest themselves in connection with the subject, to show
the results to the state of society which grew unavoidably out of
the breaking up of the Roman Empire, and the incursion of new
and uncivilized nations and tribes. Society had been dissolved,
with all the order and laws of the ancient civilization. It was the
slow work of the Church to re-organize the new and crude materials ;
to gather and arrange the fragments ; to re-model society and social
institutions as best she might. There was no other power that
could digest the crude mass ; the fierce infusions of other tongues
166 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
and tribes and nations that had, during the chaos, become mixed up
with the remains of ancient Roman civilization. She had to begm
by religion, their conversion to Christianity being the first step ;
and the Catholic Church being the only one in existence. Hence
the laws of religion are the first with which those new populations
became acquainted, and the only ones that could restrain them.
Hence, too, what is called canon law went before, and civil law
gradually followed, oftentimes mixed with and deriving its force
from the older form of legislation. The actual state of society made
it unavoidable that this should be the order of things. Civil gov-
ernments oftentimes engrafted whole branches of the ecclesiastical
law in their secular codes ; and ecclesiastical judges were often the
interpreters and administrators of both.
Canonical law and civil law, thus blended, became the Codes 'of
civil government, from the necessity of the case, and it is to this
state of things that the authors of the notes make allusion in their
text. But, as I have remarked, the subject is too deep to be prop-
erly discussed on this occasion, when time is so brief, and so many
speakers to be replied to.
We now come to Acts xxv. 11 :
" / appeal to Cmsar. If Paul, both to save himself from whipping and from
death, sought by the Jews, doubted not to cry for honor of the Eoman laws, and
to appeal to Coesar, the Prince of the Eomans, not yet Christened, how much more
may we call for aid of Christian princes and their laws, for the punishment of her-
etics, and for the Church's defence against them. Autfml. Jipist. 50."
Here you see the working of human interest ; and it is not the
first time, among Protestants and Catholics, nor will it be the last,
that men have made the Word of God and sacred things a stepping-
stone to promote temporal interests. They say there, "Heretics
have banished us, and is it not naturally the interest of Catholics to
join a Catholic prince to put down our stern persecutors?" As if
they had said to their fellow-Catholics of England, a Catholic prince
will sooi} make a descent on our country, it will be your duty, as it
is your interest, to join in putting down the heretic Elizabeth, who
has driven us from our country.
I go now to Hebrews x. 29: '■'• How mvch more, think you, doth
he deserve worse punishments who hath trodden the Son of God under
foot, and esteemed the blood of the Testament polluted wherein he is
sanctified, and hath done contrarihj to the spirit of grace ?" Anno-
tation :
" The blood of the Textamenl. Whosoever maketli no more of the blood of Christ's
sacrifice, either as shed upon the cross or in the chalice of the altar, for our Saviour
calleth (hat the blood of the New Testament, than he doth of the blood of calves
and slieep, or of other common drinks, is worihy death, and God will in the future
life, if it be not punished here, revenge it witli grievous punishment."
" God will in the next life punish !" Why, as bad as these notes
are, objectionable and scornfully repudiated as they were by the
Catholics of England, bad as they are, they do not sustain the gen-
tleman, whose assertion has gone as far beyond the truth as it is so
BEIOKE THE CITY COUNCIL. 167
very far beyond charity. I do not find the notes , from the Apoca-
lypse, ■which would have gone to show in like manner that, bad as
they were, they do not support the accusations made.
Dr. Bond. There are others as well.
Bishop Hughes. Well, I will give you the rest.
The Peesident. Perhaps it is not necessary. But if tliey are,
it is not necessary to interrupt the gentleman.
Bishop Hughes. Such then, sir, are the notes put by the Catholic
translators of the New Testament, at Rheims, in 1582 — smarting as
they were' under the lash of Elizabeth's persecution, and looking
forward with hope to the result of the invasion by Philip H. They
were repudiated indignantly by the Catholics of England and Ire-
land from the first ; and were out of print, until some Protestant
ministers of New York had them published, in order to mislead the
people and to excite odium against the Catholic name.
But here, sir, is the acknowledged Testament of all Catholics
who speak the English language ; this is known and may be read
by any one, it is the 14th edition in this country, it corresponds
with those used in England and Ireland ; and if any such notes can
be found in it, then believe Catholics to be what they have been
falsely represented to be.
But the reverend gentleman disclaims originating the slander. He
took it, we are told, from the British Critic, as if that which is
false must become true, from the moment it is put in type and
printed. But, sir, he should have known that the article in the
British Critic was refuted at the time, and has been since refuted in
the Dublin Review. And it so happens that Doctor Troy, then
Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, and who is here represented as hav-
ing approved these notes, had to sustain a law-suit with the Dublin
publisherj«who was also a Protestant — not for approving the work,
but for DENOUNCING it, which destroyed the publisher's speculation,
and involved a suit against the Archbishop for damages ! ! This is
attested by Dr. Troy's letter, now before me, and by the legal pro-
ceedings, and in a speech made by Daniel O'Connell to the Catho-
lic Board at the time (181V), we find the following :
"From the Dublin Evening Post of the 6ih of December, 1817.
CATHOLIC BOARD— THE RHEMISH BIBLE.
A remarkably full meeting of the Catholic Board took place on Thursday last,
pursuant to adjournment — Owen O'Conner, Esq., in the Chair.
After some preliminary business, Mr O'Connell rose to mate his promised mo-
tion, for the appointment of a Committee to prepare a denunciation of the intoler-
ant doctrines contained in the Rhemisli Notes.
Mr. O'Coiinell said, that on the last day of meeting he gave notice that he would
move for a committee, to draw up a disavowal of the very dangerous and unchari-
table doctrines contained in certain notes to the llhemish Testament. He now
rose to submit that motion to the consideration of the Board. The late edition of
the Rheimish Testament in this country gave rise to much observation ; that work
was denounced by Dr. Troy ; an action is now depending between him and a re-
spectable bookseller in this city ; and It would be the duty of the Board not to in-
168 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
terfere, in the reihotest degi-ee, -with the subject of that action, but, on flie other
hand, the Board could not let the present opportunity pass by of recording their
sentiments of disapprobation, and even of abhorrence of the bigoted and intoler-
ant doctrines promulgated in that work. Their feelings of what was wise, consis-
tent, and liberal, would suggest such a proceeding, even though the indecent cal-
nmnies of their enemies had not rendered it indispensible. A work called llie
Brilish Critic, had, no doubt, been read by some gentlemen who heard him. The
circulation of the last number has been very extensive, and exceeded, almost be-
yond circulation, the circulation of any former number, in consequence of an arti-
cle whicli appeared in it on the late edition of the Khemish Testament. He (Mr.
O'Connel!) said he read that article ; it is extremely unfair and uncandid ; it gives
with audacious falsehood, passages, as if from the notes of the Rheiinish Testa-
ment, which cannot be found in that work ; and, with mean cunning, it seeks to
avoid detection by quoting, without giving either text or page. Throughout, it is
written in the true spirit of the inquisition, it is violent, vindictive, and uncharita-
ble. He was sorry to understand that it was written by ministers of the Estab-
lished Church ; but he trusted, that when the charge of intemperance should be
again brought forward against the Catholics, their accusers would cast their eyes
on this coarse and illiberal attack — here they may find a specimen of real intemper- .
ance. But the very acceptable work of imputing principles to the Irish people
which they never held, and which they abhor, was not confined to Tlie British
Critic. 2/ie Cmirier, a newspaper whose circulation is immense, lent its hand, and
the provincial newspapers throughout England — those papers which are forever
silent when anything might be said favorable to Ireland, but are ever active to dis-
seminate whatever may tend to her disgrace or dishonor. They have not hesitated
to impute to the Catholics of this country the doctrines contained in those offen-
sive noteS' — and it was their duty to disclaim them. Nothing was more remote
from the true sentiments of the Irish people. These notes were of English growth ;
they were written in agitated times, when the title of Elizabeth was questioned,
on the grounds of legitimacy. Party spirit was then extremely violent : politics
mixed with religion, and, of course, disgraced it. Queen Mary, of Scotland, had
active partisans, who thought it would forward their purposes to translate the
Bible, and add to it those obnoxious notes. But very shortly after the establish-
ment of the College at Douay, this Rhemish edition was condemned by all the
Doctors of that Institution, who, at the same time, called for and received the aid
of the Scotch and Irish Colleges. The book was thus suppressed, ani an edition
of the Bible, with notes, was published at Douay, which has ever'been since
adopted by the Catholic Church ; so that they not only condemned and suppressed
the Rheimish edition, but they published an edition, with notes, to which no objec-
tion has, or could be, urged. From that period there have been but two editions
of the Rhemish Testament ; the first had very little circulation ; the late one was
published by a very ignorant printer in Cork, a man of the name of M'Namara, a
person who was not capable of distinguishing between the Rhemish and any
other edition of the Bible. lie took up the matter merely as a speculation in trade.
He meant to publish a Catholic Bible, and having put his hand upon the Rhemish
edition, he commenced to print it in numbers. He subsequently became bankrupt,
and his property in this transaction vested in Mr, Gumming, a respectable book-
seller in this city, who is either a Protestant or Presbyterian ; but he carried on
the work, like M'Namara, merely to make money of it, as a mercantile speculation ;
and yet, said Mr. O'Connell, our enemies have taken it up with avidity ; they have
asserted that the sentiments of those notes are cherished by the Catholics in this
country. He would not be surprised to read of speeches in the next Parliament
on the subject. It was a hundred to one but that some of our briefless barristers
have already commenced composing their dull calumnies, and that we shall have
speeches from them, for the edification of the Legislature, and the protection of
the Cliurch. _ There was not a moment to be lost— the Catholics should, with one
voice, disclaim those very odious doctrines. He was sure there was not a single
Catholic in jfreland that did not feel as he did, abhorrence at the principles these
notes contain. llUberality has been attributed to the Irish people, but they are
grossly wronged. He had often addressed the Catb.olic people of Ireland. He '
BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 169
always found tliem applaud every sentiment of liberality, and the doctrine of per-
fect freedom of conscience ; the right of every human being to have his religious
creed, whatever that creed might be, unpolluted by the impious interference of
bigoted or oppre^s-ive laws. Those sacred rights, and that generous sentiment,
were never uttered at a Catliolic aggregate meeting, witlioiit receiving at the in-
stant tlie loud and the unanimous applause of the assembly.
'■ It might be said that tliose meetings were composed of. mei-e rabble. Well, be
it so. For one, he should concede that, for the sake of argument. But what fol-
lowed ? Why, just this: — that the Catholic rabble, witliout the advantages of
education, or of the influence of polished society, were so well acquainted with
the genuine principles of Christian charity, that they, the rabble, adopted and ap-
plauded sentiments of liberalit}', and of religious freedom, wliicli, unfortunately,
met but litile encouragement from the polished and educated of other sects."
('I lien follows the passage which we have quoted iu tlie preceding article.)
" Mr. O'Connell's motion was put and carried, the words beijig amended thus :
" ' That a Committee be appointed to draw up an address on the occasion of the
late publication of the Rhemish Testament, with a view to have the same submit-
ted to an aggregate meeting.' "
Such, sir, are the history and the authority of the notes put to
the Rhemish translation of the New Testament. The denuncia-
tion of Dr. Troy spoiled the sale of the work in Ireland, and the
publisher sent the remaining copies for sale to this country ; but
even this did not remunerate him, as his loss was estimated at
£500 sterling. It must have been from one of these exiled copies,
that the Protestant edition, published in this city, now produced,
was taken. These being the facts of the case, if I were a Protest-
ant, I should feel ashamed of a clergyman of my church, who, from
either malice or ignorance, should take up such a book, with the un-
christian view of blackening the character of any denomination of
my fellow citizens. But not only this, sir, but look at the array of
the names of Protestant ministers, in this city, certifying, contrary
to the fact, that this text and these notes are by the authority of
the Catholic Church, and then say, whether there is no prejudice
against the Catholics ! I shall now dismiss the subject.
Sir, the Methodist gentleman, in the whole of his address, in
which he made the charge I have now disposed of, and of which I
wish him joy, slyly changed the nature and bearing of my lan-
guage in the remarks I made last evening. For instance, respecting
Purgatory, of which I observed if they were not satisfied with our
Purgatory and wished to go further, they might prove the truth of
the proverb, which says they may " go farther and fare worse."
He said I " sent " them farther. But that corresponds with the rest.
I did not send them farther. I here disavow such feelings in the name
of human nature, and of that venerable religion which I profess.
But he has seen that " betting," as he was pleased to call it, is a
sin, because forsooth, " he would get my money without an equiva-
lent." Now I think he suspected the contrary. But I did not pro-
pose betting. His calumny had taken me by surprise ; but was it
not fortunate, almost providential, that I had at hand a direct refu-
tation, for if his charge had gone abroad uncontradicted, the igno-
rant or bigoted would have taken it on his authority, and quoted it
with as much jissurance as he u'd on that of the British Critic —
lYO AEOHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
and for the same unholy purpose. He took me, I say, at an unfair
moment, and then it was, I stated, that if the gentleman could
prove his charge — there were gentlemen here who had confidence
in my word, and I said I would pledge myself to forfeit $1000 to
be distributed in charities to the poor, as this council might direct,
provided he would agree to the same forfeiture, if he failed to prove
it. This is not betting.
He says that his Church has taught him the sinfulness of betting.
But this did not deserve that name. It was only an ordeal, to test
his confidence in the veracity of the slander contained in the Metho-
dist Remonstrance. I may not, indeed, have the same scruples
about what he calls gambling, that he has ; but I do remember,
what he seems to have forgotten, that there is a precept of the
Decalogue — a commandment of the living God, which says : " Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
I now pass to another portion of this gentleman's remarks. He
contends that it is impossible to furnish reading lessons from history
for the last ten centuries, without producing what must be offensive
to Catholics. The history of Catholics is so black, that the Public
Schools could not, in his view, find a solitary bright page to refresh
the eye of the Catholic children. This is set forth in the Remon-
strance of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and this the reverend
gentleman undertook to support in his speech. He said that history
must not be falsified for our accommodation. That the black and
insulting passages against us and our religion, placed in the hands
of our children at the Public Schools, were not to be charged as a
defect in the system — inasmuch as the Trustees could find worse,
but would be obliged to falsify history itself to find better. From
this defence you can judge what confidence Catholics can place in
this society, or in the schools under their charge.
I contended that there existed portions of history eminently hon-
orable to Catholics. But, says he, " history is philosophy, teaching
by example — the good and the bad must be taken together." Then
how does it happen that the bad alone is presented in the Public
Schools ? Besides, if all the good and all the bad which history
ascribes to Catholics must be presented, it would make a library
rather large for a class-book in the Public Schools. Hence the ne-
cessity of a selection ; and how is it, that in the selection the bad is
brought out, and the good passed over in silence as if it did not
exist ? Why is the burning of Huss selected ? Why the burning
of Cranmer ? Why are our children taught in the face of all sense and
decency, that Martin Luther did more for learning, than any other
man " since the days of the Apostles !" Why is " Phelim Maghee "
represented as " sealing his soul with a wafer," — in contempt to the
holiest mystery known to Catholics, the Sacred Eucharist ? Why
are intemperance and vice set forth as the necessary and natural
effects of the Catholic Religion ? All this put in the hands of Catho-
lic children, by this society, claiming to deserve the confidence of
Catholic parents !
^ BKFOEE TI-IU CITY COUNCIL. lYl
Now the Methodist gentleman says that all this is right — that the
Trustees could not possibly, within the last ten centuries, find history
which would not.be offensive to Catholics — and that to make it
otherwise, it must be falsified. Now, sir, I should like to know,
whether it can be expected that we should have any confidence in
schools, for the support of which we are taxed, in which onr re-
ligious feelings are insulted, our children perverted, and whose advo
cates tell us gravely that we ought to be satisfied that things can-
not be otherwise, unless history is to be falsified for our convenience !
To this we never shall consent ! Religious intolerance has done
much to degrade us, and its most dangerous instrument was dejjriv-
ing us of education.
The gentleman (Dr. Bond) has corrected some of my remarks of
last evening, on the Methodist Episcopal Church. The fact is, the
style of Remonstrance presented here, as emanating from that
Church, imposed on me the necessity of alluding to the history and
principles of that denomination. It is unpleasant to me, at any time,
to use language calculated to wound the feelings of any sect or class
of my felloAV citizens. But they who offer the unprovoked insult,
must not complain of the retort. I stated that the Methodists in
England had never done a solitary act to aid in the spread of civil
and religious liberty in that country; that whilst the Catholics
aided the Dissenters in obtaining the repeal to the Test and Corpo-
ration Acts, the Methodists never contributed to that measure, by
so much as one petition in its favor. But it appears I fell into a
mistake, which the gentleman corrected with great precision and
gravity. The " Methodist Society," in England, he tells us, is some-
thing quite different from the " Methodist Episcopal Church," in
the United States. The former consider themselves only as a society
in the Established Church, just as the religious orders, the Domi-
nicans, Jesuits, &c., are in the Catholic communion. Certainly it
is new to me to learn that the Methodists and the Church of
England are in such close and affectionate spiritual relationship.
For although the Methodists consider themselves a society within
the pale of the Establishment, the members of the Established
Church are quite of a different opinion, since it was only the other
day that I read of a Presbyter of that Church having been suspend-
ed by his Bishop, for having preached in a Methodist Meeting-
house ! So that the affection of the Methodists for the Church of
England, does not appear to be very cordially reciprocated.
This gentleman tells us that the Methodists, who are only a
'■• Society " in England, are an " Episcopal Church in America."
Yes, sir, Mr. "Wesley, who was himself but a Priest, actually conse-
crated a Bi$HOP for the United States ! And hence the Methodist
Episcopal Church — a new order of Episcopacy, deriving their au-
thority and character from Mr. John "Wesley, a mere Priest. But,
with or without Bishops, their whole history proves how much
they imbibed of the intolerance of the established Church of Eng-
land, to which he tells us they are so intimately allied in that coun-
Ii2 ARCHBISHOP hughes' second speech
try, bii t which at all times spurns the connection. This same John
AVesley held and wrote that no government ought to grant tolera-
tion to" Catholics ; because, forsooth, either from ignorance of Catho-
lic doctrines or bigotry against them, he was pleased to believe and
assert falsely that they held it lawful to murder heretics. When
the government of Great Britain was about to mitigate the code of
penal laws and persecution against the Catholics, in 1780, who was
more fervent and fanatical in opposition to the exercise of mercy
than John Wesley ? The great object of the Protestant Association,
headed by Lord Geoi'ge Gordon, was to oppose the least mitigation
of sevei'ity. Who was more active in the intellectual operations of
that society than Mr. John Wesley ? Under the leadership of Lord
George Gordon they raised a rebellion in that year, and when the
mob had plundered, destroyed, and burnt the houses and churches
of the Catholics, spread consternation throughout the city of Lon-
don, and caused human blood to flow in torrents, we have this same
Wesley, with sanctimonious gravity, charging it all on the Catho-
lics—the victims of its fury — and contending that it was a " Popish
plot." His services in that Association had been acknowledged by
a unanimovs vote of thanks, dated "February ITth of that very year.
This was in 1780 — when the mighty events which had occurred in
this country taught the British government the expediency of relax-
ing the penal laws against so large a portion of her subjects in
England and Ireland. The rebound of those events had been felt
throughout the world. They were the events created and accom-
plished by the great fathers of this Republic, then struggling into
existence ; and whilst Catholics and Protestants fought bravely
side by side in the ranks of independence — while a Catholic Carroll
was signing its charter, and another Carroll, a Priest, and (tell it
not in Gath) a Jesuit, was employed on an embassy to render the
population of Canada friendly, or at least not hostile to our strug-
gle ; whilst a Catholic Commodore, Barry, was doing the office of a
founder and father to our young and gallant Navy, what was John
Wesley doing ? He was creeping to the British throne to lay at
the feet of His llajesty's government the offer to raise a regiment
and put them at the disposal of the crown, expressly to put down
what he called the " American Rebellion ;" to crush the rising lib-
erties of your infant country !
Now, sir, I think I was authorized to state that the Methodists
have done as little for the spread of human liberty, the rights and
equality of mankind, as any other denomination — no matter how
old or how young. If they have not done extensive mischief, of
which the gentleman boasts, it is to be remembered that they never
possessed supreme civil power, and that in the order of time they
have been too insignificant, and are still too juvenile to have done
extensive evil. If they have done private good, as the gentleman
contends, I confess it reminds me of Stephen Girard's charity. He
was exceedingly rich ; and because he was rich, people thought he
was very wise. And inasmuch as he despised all external ehow of
BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 1Y3
religion, it was inferred he was very charitable to the poor, without,
however making a display of it. If it was so, no man ever jjrac-
ticed better the comisel of the Gospel, " not to let the left liarld
know what the right hand doeth " in the matter. It was so private
that no one ever could find it out. So it is with the Methodist
Church with regard to any public benefit ever conferred on man-
kind ; we have yet to hear of it.
I will now satisfy the gentleman on another subject which seems
to trouble him, and on which he " should like to know." And as
other gentlemen have alluded to it, I hope the same explanation
will suffice in reply to them all.
Before the British government released the Catholics from the
penalties under which they labored, among which not the least was
the exclusion of the schoolmaster, they called upon them to disavow
principles which they knew Catholics did not entertain. But in
order to reconcile the prejudices of the English people, they had an
investigation of those imputed principles before the houses of Par-
liament; they called upon some distinguished Catholic citizens and
questioned them on several points such as those the gentleman has
so frequently referred to, among which was the spiritual authority
of the Pope. From the testimony which they took I now quote.
It is part of the testimony of Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare ; but
other bishops and public men were a;ll examined on the same
subject.
Question. " According to the principles which govern the Ro-
man Catholic Church in Ireland, has the Pope any authority to
issue commands, ordinances, or injunctions, general or special, with-
out the consent of the King?"
Answer. " He has."
" Question. " If he should issue such orders, are the subjects of
His Majesty, particularly the clergy, bound to obey them ?"
Answer. " The orders that he has a right to issue must I'egard
things that are of a spiritual nature ; and when his commands re-
gard such things, the clergy are bound to obey them ; but were he
to issue commands regarding things not spiritual, the clergy are not
in anywise bound to obey them."
Consequently, if His Holiness, as the gentleman, Mr. Ketchum,
said, should forbid the reading of the Declaration of Independence,
it would not be of any authority.
Mr. Ketchum. Does the book say so ?
Bishop Hughes. I am authority myself in matters of my reli-
gion. Surely, sir, I am not here to betray it ; and I am astonished
that the gentleman is not better acquainted with history on the
matter. He amused us a little while ago with the idea of what ter-
rible consequences might ensue if the Pope, a "foreign potentate,"
should forbid us to read the Declaration of Independence ; or forbid
the reading of the Bible in our Common Schools. He even apolo-
gized for his alarm with singular simplicity: "he meant no reflec-
tion. This matter had come out in evidence here." It was then,
174 AECHBisnop hughes' second speech
sir, I wondered at his not ha-ving read history, or having read it to
so little advantage.
Did he not know that, long before the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, Venice rose out of the sea, a Catholic State, with all her re-
publican glory round about her ? And when the Pope, in his capa-
city of "fore-ign potentate," attempted to invade her temporal
rights, her Catholic sons did what they ought to have done, they
unsheathed their swords and routed his troops. Did they thereby
forfeit their allegiance to him as spiritual Head of the Church on
earth ? N'ot an'iota, of it. To a man who reads history, and under.
stands it, this fact alone points out the difference, in the creed of
Catholics, between the Pope and the potentate. The Venetians
knew that the Pope, in his spiritual capacity, belongs to a kingdom
which is not of this world. And the allegiance of Catholics to him,
out of his own small dominions, is due to him only in his spiritual
capacity. Whatever temporal right was acquired over independent
states by the Popes in former ages, was owing to no principle of
Catholic doctrine, but purely to the disorders of the times and the
pusillanimity of weak rulers, who, in order to secure the Pope's pro-
tection, made themselves his vassals. The Popes, in such circum-
stances, would have been more or less than men, had they refused
to embrace these opportunities of aggrandizement so placed within
their reach, and often pressed upon them. Now every Catholic is
familiar with this view of the subject, and yet, except a few of larger
minds and better education, it has hardly penetrated the density of
Protestant prejudice. Hence you hear them giving the most ab-
surd construction to the duties of Catholics between the supposed
conflicting claims of their country and the imputed principles of
theii- religion. Permit me here to call your attention to the true
and beautiful exposition of the case as set forth in the language of a
gentleman who, though a Catholic, is acknowledged to be a man of
as high honor, as lofty and patriotic principles, and as unblemished
a character, as any man the nation can boast of: I mean Judge
Gaston, of North Carolina. The State has no son of whom she is,
or ought to be, prouder. And yet, up till within a few years, the
laws of that State disqualified a Catholic from holding any, even the
office of a constable. In a speech made by Judge Gaston, in the
Convention for revising the State Constitution, in reference to this
matter, he says :
" But it has been objected, that the Catholic religion is iinfaTorable to freedom ;
nay, even incompatible with republican institutions. Ingenious speculations on
Buch matters are worth little, and prove still less. Let me ask who obtained the
great charter of English freedom but the Catholic prelates and barons at Eunny-
mede ? The oldesi,, the j/ures\. Jemocracy on earth is the little Catholic republic
of San Marino, not a day's journey from Rome. It has existed now for fourteen
hundred years, and is so jealous of arbitrary power, that the executive authority
is divided between two Governors, who are elected every three months. Was
William Tell, the founder of Swiss liberty, a royalist? Are the Catholics of the
Swiss cantons in love with tyranny? Are the Irish Catholics friends to passive
obedience and non-resistance ? Was Lafayette, Pulaski, or Kosciusko, a foe to
civil freedom ? Was Charles Carroll, of CarroUton, unwilling to jeopard fortune in
BEFOEE THE CITT COUNCIL. I'Jo
the cause of liberty ? Let me giye yon, however, the testimony of Geovge Wash-
ington. On his accession to the Presidency, he was addressed by tlie American
Catholics, who, adverting to the restrictions on their worship then existing in some
of the States, expressed themselves thus: 'The prospect of national prosperity is
peculiarly pleasing to us on another account ; because, while our country preserves
her freedom and independence, we shall have well founded title to claim from her
justice the equal rights of citizenship as the price of our blood spilt under your
eye, and of our common exertions for her defence, under your auspicious conduct.'
This great man, who was utterly incapable of flattery and deceit, utters, in an.swer,
the following sentiments, which I give in his own words : ' As mankind beeome
more liberal, they AviU be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves
as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protection of
civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations in
examples of justice and liberality; and I presume that your fellow-citizens will
never forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their rev-
olution, and the establishment of their government, or the important assistance
which they received from a nation in which the Roman Catholic faith is professed.'
By the by, sir, I would pause for a moment to call the attention of this committee
to some of the mimes subscribed to this address. Among them are those of John
Carroll, the first Roman Catholic bishop of the United States ; Charles Carroll, of
CarroUton, and '1 homas Fitzsimmons. For the characters of these distinguished
men, if they needed vouchers, I would confidently call on the venerable President
of this Convention. Bishop tJarroll was one of the best men and most humble and
devout of Chrisiians. 1 shall never forget a tribute to his memory paid by the good
and venerable Protestant Bishop White, when contrasting the piety with which
the Christian Carroll met death, with the cold trifling that characterized tlie last
moments of the skeptical l)a\ id Hume. I know not whether the tribute was more
honorable to the piety of the dead, or to the charity of the living prelate. Charles
Carroll, of CarroUton, the last survivor of the signers of American Indepen-
dence— at whose death both houses of the Legislature of North Carolina unan-
imously testified their sorrow, as at a national bereavement I Thomas Fitzsim-
mons, one of the illusirions Convention that framed the Constitution of the United
States, and for several years the Representative in Congress from the city of Phila-
delphia. Were these, and such as these, foes to freedom and unfit for republican-
ism ? Would it be dangerous to permit such men to be sheriffs and constables in
the land ? Read the funeral eulogium of Charles Carroll, delivered at Rome by
Bishop England — one of the greatest ornaments of the American Catholic Church
— a foreigner, indeed, by birth, but an American by adoption, and who becoming
an American, solemnly abjured all allegiance to every foreign king, prince, and
potentate whatever — that eulogium which was so much carped at by English roy-
alists and English tories — and I think you will find it democratic enough to suit
the taste and find an echo in the heart of the sternest republican amongst us.
Catholics are of all countries, of all governments, of all political creeds. Li all they
are taught that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and that it is their duty
to render unto Csesar the things that are Cffisar's, and unto God the things that are
God's."
I shall now proceed with the testimony of the Irish Bishops in
order, which was interrupted by the gentleman's question.
Here, sir, is the testimony of another bishop — Dr. Murray, tlM
present Archbishop of Dublin — before a Committee of the British
Parliament.
" To what extent and in what manner does a Catholic profess to obey the Pope 1
— Solely in spiritual matters, or in such mixed matters as come under his govern-
ment: such as marriage, for instance, which we hold to be a sacrament as well as
a civil contract. As it is a sacrament, it is a spiritual thing, and comes under the
jurisdiction of the Pope; of course he has authority over that spiritual part of it;
but this authority docs not atfect the civil rights of the individuals contracting.
176 AECHBISHOP HUGHES SECOND SPEECH
"Does this obedience detract from what 13 due by a Catholic to the State under
which he lives ?— Not in the least ; (he powers are wholly distinct.
" Does it justify an objection that, is made to Catholics, that their allegiance 13
divided ?— Their allegiance in civil matters is completely undivided.
" Is the duty which the Catholic owes to the Tope, and the duty which he owes
to the King, really and substantially distinct?— Wholly distinct !
" How far is the claim, that some Popes have set up to Temporal Authority,
opposed to Scripture and Tradition ?— As far as it may have been exercised as
coming from a right granted to him by God, it appears to me to be contrary to
Scripture and tradition ; but as far as it may have been exercised in consequence
of a right conferred on him by the different Christian powers, who looked up to
him at one time as the great parent of Christendom, who appointed him as the
arbitrator of their concerns, many of whom submitted their kingdoms to him, and
laid them at his feet, consenting to receive them back from him as fiefs, the case
is different. The power that he exercised under that authority of course passed
away when those temporal princes who granted it chose to withdraw it. His
spiritual power does not allow him to dethrone kings, or to absolve their subjects
from the allegiance due to them ; and any attempt of that kind I would consider
contrary to Scripture and tradition.
" Does the Pope now dispose of temporal affairs within .the kingdoms of any of
the princes of the Continent ? — Not that I am aware of; I am sure he does not.
" Do the Catholic clergy admit that all the bulls of the Pope are entitled to obe-
dience?— They are entitled to a certain degree of reverence. If not contrary
to our usages, or contrary to the law of God, of course they are entitled to
obedience, as coming from a superior. We owe obedience to a parent, we
owe obedience to the king, we owe it to the law; but if a parent, the king, or the
law, were to order us to do anything that is wrong, we would deem it a duty to
say, as the Apostles did on another occasion, ' We ought to obey God rather than
men.'
" Are there circumstances under which the Catholic clergy would not obey a bull
of the Pope ? — Most certainly.
" What is the true meaning of the following words, in the creed of Pius IV. : ' I
promise and swear true obedience to the Roman bishop, the successor of St. Peter?' —
Canonical obedience, in the manner I have just described, within the sphere of his
own authority.
" What do the principles of the Catholic religion teach, in respect to the perform-
ance of civil duties ? — They teach that the performance of civil duties is a consci-
entious obligation which the law of God imposes on us.
" Is the divine law then quite clear, as to the allegiance due by subjects to their
prince ? — Quite clear.
" In what books are to be found the most authentic exposition of the Faith of the
Catholic Church ? — In that very creed that has been mentioned, the creed of Pius
IV. ; in the Catechism which was published by the direction of the Council of
Trent, called ' The Roman Catechism,' or 'The Catechism of ihe Council of Trent;'
' An Exposition of the Catholic Faith, by the Bishop of Meaux, Bossuet ;' ' Verron's
Rule of Faith ;' ' Holden's Analysis of Faith' and several others."
Such is the character and limitation of the Pope's authority, at-
tested under oath, by bishops and other Catholic dignitaries before
the British Parliament. The Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland
had been bowed down to the earth, by penal laws and persecution,
during three hundred years — with nothing between them and the
enjoyment of all their rights, but the solemnity of an oath. If their
conscience had permitted them to swear what they did not believe,
they might have entered on their political rights at any time, and
yet as inartyrs to the sacredness of conscience they resisted.
I have now, sir, supplied the reverend gentleman, who presented
BBFOEE THE CriT COUNCIL. 177
the remonstrance from the Methodist Episcopal CImrch, with all the
information which the occasion permits on the subject of the Pope's
anthority. But there is a good deal more to which, if time allowed,
I might address myself. He became very logical, and insisted on
the fact, that the doctrines of the Catholic Church are always the
same, immutable. He says that we boast of this ; and we do so,
most assuredly. From the hour when they were revealed and taught
by ^divine authority until the present, from the rising to the setting
of the sun, the Faith of the Catholic believer, and the doctrines of
the Catholic Church, are everlastingly and universally the same.
But then he concludes, that, as Catholics in some instances in former
times persecuted, so, their religion being always -the same, they are
still bound to persecute, or else disavow the doctrine, as Protestants
do. Now, sir, we do disavow and despise the doctrine of persecu-
tion in all its essence and forms. But does it follow that by this we
disavow any doctrine of the Catholic Church ? By no means. And
this proves that persecution never was any portion of the Catholic
faith ; for if it had been, the denial of it would cut us off from her
communion. The Church we believe, by the promise and superin-
tendence of Christ, her invisible head and founder, to be infallible.
She received the deposit of the doctrines revealed by our Redeemer
and his Apostles ; her office is to witness, teach, and preserve them.
These alone constitute the religious creed and doctrines of the Cath-
olic Church and her members. We believe in a Trinity, the Incar-
nation of Christ, the Redemption by his death, the Divine Institution
of the Church. These and whatever the Church holds, as of Divine
Revelation, are the doctrines of out Catholic unity. And the indi-
vidual who is now addressing you, and the Catholic martyr who is
at this moment perhaps bleeding for his faith in China — for the
Church has her martyrs still — hold and believe identically the same
doctrines. But as there is unity in faith, so there is, in the Church,
freedom of opinion on matters which are not determined by any
specific revelation. Hence we are republicans, or monarchists, ac-
cording to individual preference, or the prevailing genius of the
country we belong to. Hence, when the Catholic divines at Rheims
were appending these notes to their edition of the New Testament,
the Catholic bishops of Poland, with her twenty-two millions, were
opening the doors of the Constitution to the fugitive Protestants of
Germany, fleeing from the intolerance and persecution of their fellovs'
Protestants. The one act is as much a Catholic doctrine as the other,
because in both cases the agents acted, not by the aathority of the
Church, but in the exercise of that individual judgment for which
their account stands to God.
But I must be brief. I cannot follow so many learned speakers
through so much matter that is foreign to the subject ; for I agree
with the medical gentleman who said that neither the Catholic nor
the Protestant religion was on trial here ; it is not religious creeds
that are to be tested by this Council. I have, however, given this
explanation, and I trust it will be received, though it may have been
12
178 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
tedious, as having its apology in the remarks which called it forth.
I only wish that the gentleman who made the observation had
made it one hour and a half sooner ; it would have saved all I have
said on the subject.
But this speaker also [Doctor Reese], lectured me for attending
certain meetings, as if it were a descent from my dignity to find my-
self in an assembly of freemen. I did not consider it as a descent.
But really when. I came here in the simple character of a citizen, 1 did
not think I should be vested with my official robes for the purpose
of being attacked. Individuals as respectable as he attended those
meetings, and I consider it no disgrace to have been there or here ;
for even if this petition came not from Catholics, but from Metho-
dists, or any other Protestant denomination, whose consciences were
violated by this system, I should be found in their midst supporting
their claim. Let me add, too, that I would rather be so found, than,
for all the exchequer of the Public School Society, exchange places
with gentlemen, and have conscience and right for my opponents.
He also contended that this want of confidence in Catholics was the
result of my appeals, forgetting that the state of things which is now
brought under public notice has existed for years, by efforts to pro-
vide a safe education for our children, long before those meetings
were called, and before I attended them. And besides, I conceive
it is my bounden duty, if I saw principles inculcated which will sap
the young minds of our children — and I have no doubt this Honora-
ble Board will say it is my duty — to warn them and to bring them
within the pale of that authority which they acknowledge. I won-
der if Presbyterian gentlemen would see CathoUc books circulated
amongst their children and not warn their people against them ? I
wonder, if these books contained reading lessons about Calvin and
the unhappy burning of Servetus, whether they would not warn their
people. I say, if they believe in their religion, they would be in the
discharge of their duty. And while on this subject, it occurs to me
at this moment, that in the wide range of observation which has
been taken, reference has been made to national education in Ire-
land. And we are told that after books had been agreed upon, the
bishops sent the question to Rome, to be decided by the Pope.
What question? Can they tell? for 1 am sure 1 cannot. To this
day, I have never understood the exact nature of the reference to
the Pope, but, sir, this is no extraordinary thing. Under the jealous
eye of the British government, even in the darkest hour of her cru-
elty to Catholics, their intercourse with Rome was not interrupted.
But while that collection and compilation of Scripture lessons was
agreed on in the more Cathohc parts of the country where the pop-
ulation is divided between Protestants and Catholic, what is the
fact ? Why, in another part, the North of Ireland, where the Pres-
byterians are more numerous, they had conscientious objections to
this selection of Scripture, they asserted their objections, and the
British government recognized them ; and thus while these lessons
by agreement were in general use, an exception was made in favor
BEFOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 179
of the Presbyterians, who had objections to the use of anything but
the naked word of God ; and I say, honor to those Presbyterians.
The Catholics sent in no remonstrance. But if the rule applied to
their case, by what authority will your honorable body determine
that it shall not apply to ours ? Oh ! I perceive. The gentleman,
whose remarks I am* reviewing, reasoned on until he arrived at the
conclusion that there were no conscientious grounds for our objec-
jection at all. True, we said we had ; but he could not see what
conscience had to do with a matter so plain. He said, here the
community had built up a beautiful system ; it was doing good ; he
asked shall we put it aside in deference to pretended scruples ?
Now, tell me when the despotism of intolerance ever said anything
else than this ? Why, the established church of England said, " we
are doing good," " our doors are open to all," " the minister is at the
desk, and the bread of life is distributed for the public good."
What then ? What business have these unhappy parents to find
fault for conscience sake and squeamishness ? Now, sii-, objections
can exist to the slightest shade of violation to our conscience, and
therefore, I did not expect to hear this argument at this time of day.
But the gentleman speaks of my addressing the public meetings to
which he has alluded, as though my speaking there had been the
cause instead of the consequence of the scruples of our people.
Then it was I joined them to seek a remedy for our just complaint,
but if in your wisdom this body shall think proper to deny, it we
must bear it.
He contended again that it would be turning the public money to
private uses. That seems to me to have been fully answered. He also
contended that it would be the giving of the money of the State to
support religion. That I have disputed ; for if so I shall have no
objection to join those gentlemen in their remonstrance. But at the
same time it does appear strange to me that the gentleman, who
pretends to have read the Scriptures with so much attention, should
not have learned that principle — the most general, sir, and the most
infallible of Christian principles for the guidance of our conduct^;^
■ "Do UNTO OTHEES AS TE WOULD THAT OTHERS SHOULD DO UNTO
YOU." That is the principle ; and is it not strange that such oppo-
sition should be made to us when it is known that money raised by
public tax goes to the support of literature under the supervision of
the Methodist Episcopal Chuech ? And why do not Catholics
object to that ? Because the tax does not belong to any particular
sect ; it is thrown into a common fund and applied to such uses as the
legislature in its wisdom thinks proper. We, sir, however, ask for
our own and nothing else. But if yoii say that we shall be taxed
for a system which is so organized that we cannot participate in it
without detriment to the religious rights of our children, then I say
that injustice is done even to our civil rights ; for taxation is the
basis of even civil, rights. And I was not a little struck in the course
of the argument, that some gentlemen should refer with so much
emphasis as to a circumstance novel and unparalleled even in social
180 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH
life — that a certain class of gentlemen should petition for what ?
The privilege of being taxed ! They deemed it a, privilege, and that
was wonderful ! and merit was ascribed to them for it. Yes, sir,
but did it go to the extent only of their own pockets ? Or did it
not reach the pockets equally of those who did not petition? If to
themselves only, it was all fair, and proper, dfsinterested and patri-
otic : but gre^t emphasis was laid on this class being most " intelli-
gent" and " wealthy"' and " respectable," nobility almost, as though
a question of this kind was intended for a particular class. But let
me tell you the honest man who occupies only a bed in a garret, is
also a tax payer. Why give him a vote ? Because he pays tax for
the space he occupies. If he occupies a room and pays the tax, his
rent is less — if the landlord pays, his rent is so much more. So, if
he occupies a garret, or if he boards, it goes down to that, for the
person who keeps the boarding-house pays the rent ; if that tax is
paid by the boarding-house keeper the rent is so much less than if
the tax was paid by the landlord. If the boarding-house keeper
pays the tax, he charges more for board. So that the boarder is a
tax payer, and it is so understood in our broad and excellent system
of representation. The exclusive merit of this tax, then, is not to be
given to any particular class, no matter how wealthy ; and I was
surprised that so much emphasis should be laid on it. I did not
suppose that the interests of the poor were to be sacrificed to the
respectability of the rich. The poor pay too ; and it is a beautiful
and admirable thing to see what a dignity this confers on human
nature — what an interest this excites in the poor. I recollect pass-
ing along a street some time since, and I observed a little house,
almost a shed or hovel, some fourteen or sixteen feet square, which
was too small to be divided into two compartments. It had but
one window, and this had originally had four panes of glass, but one
having been broken it was darkened. There had been some politi-
cal party triumph ; the boys in the streets had their drums out and
there appeared to be a popular rejoicing, and there I saw three lights
burning in the window of this poor habitation. I was amused to
see that a man living in so poor a hovel, and unable to buy a fourth
pane of glass, should find means to light the other three. But on
further reflection I said to myself, "there is philosophy there."
What other nation can exhibit such a spectacle ? This poor man,
who must toil till the day he goes to his grave, participates in a
political triumph. His bread has to be earned by daily toil never-
theless; though the triumph perhaps will never benefit him, he
exhibits a glorious spectacle to the world. He is a man— he feels it
is recognized. It is a nation's homage offered to human nature.
He is a man and a citizen ; and on reflection I was delighted at a
spectacle so glorious as this.
But returning to the subject, they say all religion is left to volun-
tary contribution. Now is this true in the sense in which it is here
applied ? Are not chaplains appointed to public institutions which
are supported by the public money ? And have you not given it to
BEFORE THE OITY COU^NCIL. 181
the Protestant Oi'phan Asylum, and the Half-orphan Asylum? Have
you not given it to the Catholic Benevolent Society ? And do you sup-
pose the Wesleyan Catechism is taught there ? Do you suppose the
Catholic Catechism is taught in the Protestant Asylums? One gentle-
man argued that you had not the power to do this. But if you have
done it, does not that prove that you had the power ? If you had
power to do that you have power equally to do this. I shall go
further. I find in the Report of the Regents of the University, that
the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary — Theological Seminary, as I under-
stand— has last year received $1,390.56 of the public money. This
is not exclusively literary^ as I understand it —
Dr. Bangs. Altogether literary.
Bishop Hughes. I was under the impression that it was Theolo-
gical, and that religion was admitted. But .those in this city furnish
evidence that a religious profession does not disqualify.
I believe now, sir, I have gone through the substance at least, if
not through every particular, of what has been said by the gentle-
men who interpose their remonstrances and their arguments in
opposition to our rightful claim. I will now read one authority, and
I am the more willing because it is from the Public School Society
themselves. It is from the memorial which they presented to the
Legislature in the Session of 1823, in which they state, page 7, "It
will not be denied " — recollect I do not quote this to show that our
petition ought to be granted ; but that, whatever opinion these gen-
tlemen may now have of the unconstitutionality of granting this
claim, they saw nothing unconstitutional in the practice then, and I
know of nothing so far as the constitution is concerned, neither of
the State, nor of the United States — I know of no enactment which
should change their opinion :
" It will not be denied, in this enlightened age, that the education of the poor
is enjoined by our holy religion, and is therefore one of the duties of a Christian
Church. Nor is there any impropriety in committing the School Fund to the
hands of a religious society, so long as they are confined, in the appropriation of
it, to an object not necessarily connected or intermingled with the other concerns
of the church, as for instance to the payment of teachers, because the State is sure
in this case, that the benefits of the fund, in the way it designed to confer them,
will be reaped by the poor. But the objection to the section sought to be repealed
is, that the surplus moneys after the payment of teachers, is vested in the hands
of the trustees of a religious society, and mingled with its other funds, to be ap-
propriated to the erection of buildings under the control of the trustees, which
. buildings may, and in aU probability will, be used for other purposes than school
houses."
That is the statement of the Public School Society itself; and
throughout this document — while the gentlemen here have been
wielding against our petition the influence of respectable and
wealthy classes — I find that before the acquisition of their monopoly^
they advocated the claims of the poor who cannot buy education —
sometimes scarcely bread. This is the class to whose welfare the
eye of the enhghtened, the patriotic, and the benevolent should be
directed — this is the class that essentially requires education. Thus
182 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPBBCH
they say, " The School Fund is designed for a civil purpose, for such
is the education of the poor."
Again, they say that the New York Free School (that was their
own Society) has "one single object, the education of the poor."
Again, the Board of Trustees is annually chosen, etc., "for the edu-
cation of the poor." And yet now I could point out thousands of
our poor who are destitute of education, and who have no means to
provide it. We do what we can, but we are too limited in means
to raise, of ourselves, a sufficient fund ; we have labored under great
disadvantages ; we have taught the catechism in our schools, because,
while we supported them we had the right to do so ; but if you put
them on the footing of the common schools we shall be satisfied, and
the State will secure the education of our children ; you will secure ■
them an education on the basis of morality, for they had better be
brought vtp under the morality of our religion, though gentlemen
object, than none at all. They say the objection to the present
schools is that there they are made Protestants. No, sir, it is be-
cause they are made Nothingarians, for we cannot teU what they
are. I have now concluded ; and if I have been obliged to trespass
long upon your patience, recollect, as some extenuation, that I had a
great deal to reply to in the arguments of gentlemen which were
urged to overthrow the principles of our petition, but had no bear-
ing on the petition at all. We do not ask for the elevation of the
Catholics over others, but for the protection to which all are en-
titled. The question is exceedingly plain and simple. If it has or
can be shown that we are claiming this money for sectarian purposes,
then I should advise you to withhold it. But if in honesty, and
truth, and sincerity, it is a right belonging to us as citizens, to re-
ceive our pro rata, then we appeal to you with confidence.
From the sentiments expressed here on ■ behalf of the Publio
School Society, you can judge of the chance that Catholic children
have in those schools, to have their religious rights respected. It
will be, as perhaps it has been, considered a great and good work
to detach them from a religion which is supposed "to teach the
lawfulness of murdering heretics." Infidelity itself will be con-
sidered preferable to Catholicism in their regard, for one reverend
gentleman has told yon that if there was no alternative, he would
embrace the doctrines of Voltaire rather than the religion of a
Cheverus or a Fenelon. If the Catholics have been obliged to
keep their children from those schools in time past, you may imagine
what eifects these sentiments, this animus of the system is likely to
have on their minds for the time to come. But if it is our religious
right to have a conscience at all, do not take pains to pervert it, for
we shall not be better citizens afterwards. Do not teach us to slight
the admonitions of our conscience. Keverse our case and make it
your own, and then you will be able to judge. Make it your own
case, and suppose your children were in the case of those poor
children for whom I plead ; then suppose what your feelings would
be if the blessings of education were provided bountifully by the
BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 183
State, and you were unaWe to participate in those blessings, unless
you were willing to submit that your conscience should be trenched
upon.
Here the Right Rev. Prelate sat down after having spoken for
nearly three hours and a half.
SPEECHES OF THE BT. REV. DR. HUG-HES,
IN CARROLL HALL.
BEING A KEVIEW AND REFUTATION OF THE REMONSTRANCE OF
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY, AND OF THE ARGUMENT OF
HIRAM KETCHUM, ESQ., THEIR COUNSEL, ON THE COMMON
SCHOOL QUESTION.
Wednesday Eveningj, June 16, 1841.
Public notice having been given in the daily papers of the city, that Bishop
Hughes would commence a Eeview and Refutation of the argument which
was made by Hiram Ketohura, Esq., before a Committee of the Legislature,
at Albany, in opposition to the Bill and Report of the Secretary of State, on
the subject of Common School education in the city of New York, a very
large and respectable assemblage convened in Carroll Hall, on that even-
ing, to hear the address of the Bishop. Among the gentlemen present,
we noticed the Hon. Luther Bradish, Lieutenant-Governor, and several of
the Senators of the State, who were then in attendance in the city of New
York, as members of the Court for the Correction of Errors. At the hour
Specified in the notice, the meeting was organized, by the appointment of
Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Chairman, and Bernard O'Connor, Esq., Secretary.
Et. Rev. Bishop Hughes then rose and spoke as follows :
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — The subject of education is one which at
this time agitates, more or less, every civilized nation. If we look across
the ocean, we find it the subject of discussion in France, in Prussia, in Hol-
land, in Belgium, in Ireland, and even in Austria. It is not surprising then
that this subject which has but lately attracted the attention of governments
and nations, should become one of deep and absorbing interest. But of all
these nations there is, perhaps, not one which has placed education on that
basis, on which it is destined successfully, in the end, to repose.
In countries in which the inhabitants profess the same religion, whatever
that religion may be, the subject is deprived of many of its diiBculties. But
in nations in which there is a variety of religious creeds, it has hitherto been
found one of the most perplexing of all questions, to devise a system of edu-
cation which should meet the approbation of all. This subject has engaged
the. attention of our own government. In every State of the Union it has
ah-eady been acted upon more or less fully, and in all these instances, whether
we regard Europe or regard this country, we find that therb is not a solitary
instance in which religion, or religious instruction in a course of education,
has been j)roscribed, with the exception of the city of New York. And.
184 AECHBISHOP HUGHES
this proscription of religion in this city is not an act of public authority ;
there is no statute authorizing such an aotn-it has been the result rather of
an erroneous construction put upon a statute, and which has been acquiesced
in, rather than approved, for the last sixteen years. In the operation of that
system, Catholics felt themselves virtually excluded from the benefats of
education. Very shortly after that construction of the law was adopted,
they felt themselves obliged to proceed in the best way that their poverty
wonld allow for the education of their children; and whilst they have been
taxed with the other citizens, up. to the present hour they have derived no
benefit ti-om the system supported by that taxation, but on the contrary,
after having contributed what the law required, have been obliged to throw
themselves back on their own resources, and provide, as well as they might,
for the means of educating their children.
"We have, from time to time, complained of this state of things. It has
frequently been brought before the notice of the public. A society— pro-
fessedly the friend of education— having exercised supreme control oyer the
whole question, we had no resource but to apply to that tribunal, which the
law had authorized to use its discretion in distributing the money set apart
for the purposes of education. We always insisted, in good faith, that the
object. — the benevolent object of this government was, the education of the
rising generation, and we never conceived that the question of religion, or
no religion, had entered into the minds of those philanthropic public men
who first established this system for the diffusion of knowledge. We applied,
as I have remarked, at different times, to the tribunal to which allusion has
been already made, and did so even till a very recent period, because, before
we could apply to the Legislature of the State, it was requisite to comply
with the forms prescribed, and that we should be first rejected by the Com-
mon Council of this city, to whom the State Legislature had delegated the
discretionary power to be exercised in the premises. That course was re-
garded necessary, and we adopted it. The result was as we anticipated —
denial of our request — and then it was that we applied to the Legislature of
the State — submitted to them the grievances under which we labored, in the
full confidence that there we should find a remedy.
Both before the Common Council and the Senate of this State the means
which have been taken to defeat the proper consideration of our claims
have been such as we could not have anticipated in a country where the
rights of conscience are recognized as supreme. The test has been put, not
as to whether we were proper subjects for education, but whether we were
Catholics ! And in the course of the examination on which I am about to
enter, I shall have occasion to show that, from the beginning to the end,
the one object of the members of the Public School Society has been to con-
vince the public that we were Catholics, and they, it would appear, calcu-
late, as the consequence, that if we were Catholics, then we had no right to
obtain redress, or hope for justice.
In the course of my remarks, I shall be obliged to refer to distinctions in
religion, the introduction of which into the discussion of this question is
ever to be much regretted ; I shall have to speak of Catholics and of Prot-
estants, and when I do so, let it be understood that I do not volunteer in
that ; but the course pursued by that Public School Society has imposed
upon me the necessity to refer to these religious distinctions, and in doing
so, I trust I shall be found to speak of those who differ from me in matters
of religion with becoming respect. I am not a man of narrow feelings — I
am attached sincerely and conscientiously to the faith which I profess, but
I judge no man for professing another. In the whole of my intercourse
with Protestants, my conduct has been such that they will be ready to
acknowledge, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, that I am the last man to be
SPEECHES IN CARROLL HALL. 185
nccuserl of bigotry. But I feel that I should be unwoi-thy of that estima-
tion—that the denomination to which I belong would be unworthy of sus-
taining that position which they are ambitious to occupy in the opinion of
their fellow-citizens of other creeds, if they were to submit to tha insult
added. to the injury inflicted on them by these men. I, for my own part,
feel indignant at the recent attempt made to cast odium upon us and our
cause, and it is because that turns entirely on the question of religion, that
I shall be obliged to speak of Catholics and of Protestants, and to refer to
those distinctions which should never have been introduced.
Before taking up the Report cf the Secretary of State, I shall refer briefly
to the conclusion of the discussion before the Common Council. There we
had, as you will recollect, legal gentlemen, and reverend gentlemen, advo-
cates of the Public School Society, who had studied the question in all its
bearings — volunteers and associates, and colleagues, on the same side, and
throughout that debate the ground taken by them was, that if our petition
wei'o_ granted, favors would be conferred on us as a .religious denomination,
tending to that, against which all the friends of liberty should guard — a
union of Church and State. So long as that idea was honestly entertained
by these gentlemen, I could respect their zeal in opposing us. But that
idea has disappeared, and yet their opposition has become more inveterate
than ever.
The very last sentence of the speech of Mr. Ketchum before the Common
Council Of the city of New York, was a declaration that this Society, so far
from desiring a collision of this kind with us, were men of peace, to whom
even the moral friction of the debate was quite a punishment ; that for
them it would be a relief, if our system of education were assimilated in its
external aspect to that of the State. I will read his own words :
" Now, perhaps the gentleman may ask, if the system is to be clianged, that we
should resort to the same course as is pursued iu the country, where the people elect
their own Commissioners and Trustees. But if we do, the schools must be governed
on the same principles as these, and the -only difference will he in the managers. And
if it is to come to that, I am sure these Trustees will he very willing, for it is to them a
source of great vexation to he compelled to carry on this controversy for such a
period. ■ '
^ " They are very unwilling to come here to meet their fellow-citizens in a somewhat
hostile manner. They have nothing to gain, for the Society is no benefit to them, and
they give days and weeks of their time, without recompense, to the discharge of the
duties of their trust."
I shall not now praise that Society. I have more than once given my
full assent to eulogiums on their zeal and assiduity ; but Mr. Ketchum
praises them and they praise themselves, and at this period of the contro-
versy, they are entitled to no praise from the thousands and thousands of
the poor neglected cliildren of New York, whom their narrow and bigoted
views have excluded from the benefits and blessings 6f education.
I shall now, before proceeding farther, take up the Report of the Secre-
tary of State, and commence with that portion of it in which he gives a
brief sketch of the origin of this Society:
"The Public School Society was originally incorporated in 180.3, by chapter 108 of
the laws of that session, which is entitled 'An act to incorporate the Society instituted
in the city of New York, for the establishment of a free school for the education of poor
children who do not belong to or are not provided for by any religious Society.' In
1808 its name was changed to 'The Free School Society of New York;' and its powers
were extended ' to all children whj are the proper subjects of a gratuitous education.'
By chapter 25 of the Laws of 1826, its name was changed to ' The Public School Society
of New York;' and the Tru.stees were authorized to provide for the educatiou of ail
children in New York not otherwise provided for, ' whetlier such children be or be not
the proper subjects of gratnitou.? education ;' and to require from those attending the
schools a moderate compensation; but no child to be refused admission on account of
inability to pay. "
186 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
"Thus, by the joint operation of the acts amending the o! arter of the Societ.^ of thi!
statutes in relation to the school moneys, and of the ordinal ce of the Common Council,
designating the schools of the Society as the principal recipients of those moneys^ the
control of the public education of the city of New York, and the disburs:ment of nine-
tenths of the public moneys raised and apportioned for schools, were vested in this
corporation. It is a perpetual corporation, and there is no power reserved by the Legis-
lature to repeal or modify its charter. It consists of members who have contributed to
the funds of the Society ; and, according to the proyisions of the last act, the payment
of ten dollars constitutes the contributor a member for life. The members annually
choose fifty Trustees, who may add to their number fifty more."
He goes on to describe its differeat acts by which its name and other
attributes were changed, until from being a Society to take charge of the
children tha£ were not provided for by any religious Society, they came to
have the control of the whole system of education in New York. The Re-
port informs us that the members of the Public School Society are so by
virtue of a subscription of ten dollars; that they elect fifty Trustees; that
these fifty Trustees have a right to appoint fifty others, and then the nuni-
ber is completed; that the City Council are members exofficio, and this
will,. perhaps, go a great way in explaining the unwillingness of the Com-
mon Council to grant out petition.
The Society was so constituted, that when we went before the Common
Council, we virtually went before a committee of the Society.
In this state of things the Governor of this State, with a patriotism and
benevolence that entitle his name to the respect of every man that has
regard for humane feeling and sound and liberal policy, declared for a
system that would afford a good common education for every child. And
though I have never before spoken in public the name of that distinguished
oflicer of the State, I do now from my heart award to him my warmest
thanks, and those of the community to which I belong, for the stand he
has taken on this subject. An attempt has been made to victimize him
because he favored Catholics — he dared to manifest a humane and liberal
feeling towards foreigners. He survived that shock, however, and a recent
excellent document from him, showing that he is not any longer a candidate
for public favor, authorizes me to say in this place, that every man who
loves his country and the interests of his race, no matter what may be his
politics, will cordially render the tribute of esteem and praise due to
Governor Seward.
[The chairman had, on taking his place, requested the meeting to
refrain from interrupting the Right Rev. Speaker, or giving any demon-
strations of applause, but here they could not restrain their feelings, and
testified their concurrence in the sentiments of the Bishop in reference to
Governor Seward, by a loud and enthusiastic burst of applause.]
Governor Seward knew too well, Bishop Hughes continued, the deep
seated prejudices of a large portion of the commimity, not to feel that he
had nothing to gain by being the advocate of justice to Catholics. But
whatever may be that distinguished statesman's future history, whatever
his situation, however much thwarted and opposed, and, perchance, for a
moment partially defeated by those who call themselves the friends of
education, it will be glory enough for him to have inscribed upon his
monument, that whilst Governor of the State of New York, he wished to
have every child of that noble State,, endowed and adorned in mind and
intellect, and morals, with the blessings of education. (Renewed cheers.)
"When therefore we presented, as every oppressed portion of the com-
munity has a right to do, our grievances to the Honorable Legislature of
the State, these gentlemen, who are represented by Mr. Ketchum, through a
speech of nine mortal columns— as the humble almoners of the public
charity— these men who are burthened with their load of official duty
SPEECHES IN CAEIiOLL HALL. 187
wMcli they arc -willing, Mr. Ketclium says, to put off, pursue us tliitlicr
•■with unabated hostility. We supposed that the Public School Society
would acquiesce in the justice of the plan of the Secretary. No, these
humble men, all zeal for thecauseof education, enter the halls of legislation
with a determined spirit of opj)osition to us, which is perliaps unparalleled,
considering the circumstances under which they acted.
One of the most difficult points in treating with these gentlemen is, to
ascertain in what particular situation, and under what particular circum-
stances, their responsibility may be discovered. They are, it is said, but
agents, they are wealthy and powerful, have every advantage in oijposin_g
humble petitioners as we are, and with all these advantages they presented
themselves there, not to dispute the justice of our claims, nor the correct-
ness of the ground on which the Honorable Secretary placed the question
before the Senate, but to appeal even in the minds of Senators, to whatever
they might iind tliere of prejudice against the Catholic religion, and the
foreigner and the descendants of the foreigner.
One of the documents of which they made .use, was published in the
"Journal of Commerce." This question had been, in the Senate, made the
special order of the day, for, I think, Friday, the 20th of May. In the
"Journal of Commerce" of the previous day, there was published a most
calumnious article, full of all those traditions against our religion, which
the minds of some of these denominations inherit ; and the Agent of the
Public School Society, sent, as we should understand, to represent justice
and truth between citizens of the same country, is found distributing this
paper all over the desks of the senators ! On that very day it was supposed
that the vote on this very question would be taken, and the agent of the
Public School Society is found supplying the senators — for I have a copy
of the papers thus furnished, with the member's name written at the top,
and the article referred to, marked with black lines, so that there could be
no over looking it — with an article containing a mock excommunication, a
burlesque invented by Sterne, and inserted in his Tristram Shandy, but
quoted by the Public School Society, (for I hold it to be their act till they
disclaim it,) as a part of our creed, and made the ground of a sneer at the
Secretary : " These are precious principles to be preserved in the con-
sciences of your petitioners !" Religious prejudice will have its reign in
the world. But it is a low feeling, especially is it a low feeling in a country,
in the fundamental principles of whose government and laws the great
fathers of our liberties insisted that conscience and religion should be ever,
free, and be regarded as above all law. There was to be no toleration, for
that implied the power not to tolerate; the word was therefore excluded
from the language of American jurisprudence. And that being the case,
it was painful to find an honorable body of men, as the members of the
Public School Society are regarded to be, employing such a means of
approaching the Senate of New York — that Senate, to which Justice, if she
found not a resting place upon the globe, like the dove to the ark, might
return, and expect every hand to be stretched out to receive her. (Loud
applause.)
If they deny that they approached that Senate with that document —
too vile and filthy to be read in this audience ; but if any gentleman has
the curiosity to see it, here (holding up a volume <)f Tristram Shandy) he
may read it word for word — let them call their agent to account. We will
not let them rob us of our reputation. We stand ambitious to be con-
sidered worthy of membership in the great American family — let them not,
after depriving us of the benefit of our taxes, destroy our reputation.
I will now, after this introduction, take up the "Remonstrance" of tie
Society. It is impossible for me not to feel indignant, when I think how
188 AECHBISIIOP HUGHES.
these liigh-miiided men have treated us, when I recollect that this same
peiitlemiin, who acted as their afjent and distributed that calumnious paper,
M-;is onco a candidate for office, and gladly received the signatures of
Catholics. And this was the recompense he offered.
I know not by whom this " Kemonstrance" was drawn up, I know not
whether all the members of the Board of Trustees approved of it, but if
they did, I trust there were no Catholics ]3resent.
In page 3 of this " Remonstrance," which is signed by the President,
" Robert C. Cornell," wc find the following declaration introductory to the
subject :
"The Legislature therefore in 1813, when the first distribution was made, very
naturally appropriated the amount apportioned to this city to these schools in the
ratio of the number of children taught in each. This mode of distribution continued
until 1824, when the subject was again brought before the legislature by the. jealousies,
disputes, and difficulties which had arisen among the recipients, and the conflicting
parties presented themselves at Albany for the purpose of sustaining their respective
claims."
Now in all the foregoing applications, in all the reports made by com-
mittees of the Common Council, you will find there has not been one in
which the subject of religion was not referred to as the ground of the
refusal of our claims ; in which it was not assumed that the laws were
opposed to giving education money, the Public School Pund or any portion
of it, to any religious denomination. This principle, it has been pretended,
and the disputes among the sects, led to the alteration of the law in 1824.
But if we refer back to the memorial proceeding from this Society itself, we
will find that no such thing existed ■wit the time. We find, that Mr.
Leonard Bleecker sent a memorial at that very period, 1824, in which he
says:
" It will not be denied, in this enlightened age, that the education of the poor is
enjoined by our holy religion, and is therefore, one of the duties of a Christian church.
Nor is there any impropriety in committing the school fund to the bands of a religious
society, so long as they are confined in the appropriation of it, to an object not neces-
sarily connected, or intermingled with the other concerns of the church, as for instatice
to the payment of teachers, because the state is sure in this case, that the benefits of
the fund, in the way it designed to confer them, will be reaped by the poor. But the
objection to the section sought to be repealed is, that the surplus moneys, after the
payment of teachers, is vested in the hands of the Trustees of a religious society, and
mingled with its other funds, to be appropriated to the erection of buildings under the
control of the trustees, which buildings may, and in all probability will, be used for
other purposes than school houses."
* Here was^ the ground taken, and yet we hear these gentlemen before the
Common Council say it was on account of constitutional difficulties, and
religious differences ; whereas it was simply because the money had been
used for an improper purpose.
In page 5 of this " Remonstrance,"' this Society takes the ground, in
opposition to the view of its being a monopoly, and a close corporation,
which it in fact is — that the same objection might be used against hos-,
pitals, asylums for the blind, the insane and the mute, dispensaries, and
houses of refuge, and they institute a comparison between these institutions
and the Public Schools.
Now, as to the fact, that the Public School Society is a close corporation,
they themselves do nol^deny that all citizens are excluded except those
who can afford to pay $10 for membership. They do not deny that, but
justify it on the ground that inasmuch as there are corporations for the
management of s-uch institutions as I have named, the same reason exists
for the cpnstitution of a corporation for the direction of the Public Schools.
And where then, pray, are the rights with which nature and nature's
God have invested th( parents of these children ? Pray, are they, who are
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 189
held competent to decide on the gravest questions affecting :he interests
of the nation, unworthy to have a voice in the education of their OM-n
children? And must they resign that to a corporation responsible neither
to them nor to the public in any formal way ? And pray, are the people
of New York lunatics, that they must have a corporation of keepers
appointed over them ? If the doctrine of this "memorial" be correct, they
are to be so considered. But there is this difference, they pay taxes for
education, and they have a right to a voice and a vote in the manner in
which their money is to be expended. If the people are to be treated as
lunatics, itiutes, or inmates of the house of refuge, then the argument of the
Public School Society is a good one. I think the comparison instituted in
the "Remonstrance" utterly fails. I cannot dwell longer upon it.
I now come to a charge made against the petitioners :
" At one time it was declared ' the Public School pystem of the city of New York is
entirely favorable to the sectarianismcf Infidelity, and opposed only to that of positive
Christianity,' that * it leaves the will of the pupil to riot in the fierceness of unrestrained
lusts,' and is ' calculated to make bad and dangerous citizens.' "
Now it is true, that we did view the Society as being opposed to religion.
There can be no doubt of that. But if that be true, it is equally true that
the evidence on which we built that conclusion was furnished by them-
selves. And how ? In every report of their's, it appears that if any thing
like a religious society presented itself, that character was enough to decide
them in resisting its application. You will find this evidenced in their
•vindication and defence, both by Mr. Sedgwick and Mr. Ketchum. They
■ contended that what tliey meant by religious instruction, was not religious
instruction — and so it may be proper for me to enter a little into the exa-
mination of the meaning of these words.
'When the Trustees make the religious character of a society the ground
of denying them a portion of their funds, what is it that constitutes the
objection? They do not decide against the infidel ; for it seems if the ap-
plicants had divested themselves of a religious character — if men of no
religious proiession — of no belief in a God or a future state, had presented
themselves, no objection would be made, and on their own premises the
Trustees would be obliged to concede to their request. What then
was the reason of the refusal, except the religious character of the appli-
caiits ? And had we not fair ground here for inferring that they are op-
posed to religion ? Examine their reports. Here is one : A Report of
the Committee on Arts, Sciences, and Schools of the Board of Assistant^
on appropriating a portion of the school money .to religious societies for
the support of schools. This is document No. 80, and at page 380 we read
as follows :
" The amount of one hundred and seven thousand dollars and upwards, as hereto-
fore stated, has been raised by annual tax in the city for purposes of a purely civil and
secular character."
Well, if the education is to be purely " civil and secular," is religion
mingled with it at all? Andifreligionisnottobemingled withit at all, then
had we not a right to infer from their own document that they were oiJ-
posed to religion, and brought up the children without any knowledge of
their responsibility to God, or of .a future life, or of any of those great
principles of religion on which the very aeeurity of society depends ? Were
we not justified in the inference? They refused our application because
we professed religion ; and had we not a right to keep our children from
the influence of a system of education that attempted to make a divorce
between literature — that is, such literature as is suited for the infant mind
— and religion; and to give instruction of a "purely civil and secular
190 AECHBISHOP UtJGHES.
character," for which we are told $10V,000 had been expended ?_ How, I
astj can Mr. Cornell stand up and deny our charge, when such indisputable
evidence of its truth is presented by their own documents ?
Did Mr. Cornell, when they defeated us, find fault with the committee of
the Assistants' Board, because they charged the Society with excluding
religion from education? No! No! Enough it was that religious socie-
ties should be defeated, and that they should continue to wield their corn-
l)lex monopoly. No matter that they were charged with having no reli-
gion. No matter at all that their education was then described as " purely
civil and secular!" This document goes on— "The appropriation of any
part of that sum to the support of schools in which the religious tenets of
any sect are tavght to any extent.''''
Well, if you excluded the tenets of all sects, you excluded all religion,
because there is no religion except what is included in the tenets of sects.
I defy you to teach the first principles of religion without teaching the
tenets of sectarianism ! Then it was on the faith of their own documents
that we charged on them the character which they had assumed, on the
strength of which they had successfully opposed, one after another, all the
denominations who reverence religion. The document proceeds :
— " would be a legal establishment of one denomination of religion over another,
tcowZt^ conflict with all the principles and purposes of our free institutions, and would
violate the very letter of that part of our constitution which so emphatically declares,
that ' Tlie free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without
dlscHminatlon or preference, shall for ever be allowed in this State to all mankind.' By
granting a portion of the School"Fund to one sect to the exclusion of others, a ' prefer-
ence' is at onc.e created, a ' discrimination ' made, and the object of the great constitu-
tional guarantee is defeated; taxes are imposed for thesupport of religion, and freedom
of conscience if not directly trammelled and confined, isnotleft in the perfect and un-
shackled ^tate which onr. systems of government were intended to establish and perpe-
tuate. No difference can be perceived in principle between the taxing of the people of
England for the support of a church establishment there, and the taxing of the people
of New York for the support of schools in which the doctrines of religious denomina-
tions are taught,"
And what are we to infer from this, except that they do not teach reli-
gion at all ? But they have changed their tactics. For they have, be it
rememliered, two strings to their bow — one for those who have religion,
and one for those who have not, and so we actually find that whilst before
the Common Council of New York they are destitute of religion, and give
a purely " civil and secular education," at Albany they can be in favor of
religion !
But there is still further evidence on this point. In page 18 of the Be-
port of the debate before the Common Council, we have the explanation of
Mr, Ketclium, and it was one of the nicest managed points imaginable.
Indeed, I could not but admire the sagacity of that gentleman and his as-
sociate, Mr. Sedgwick, in steering so adroitly between the teaching of reli-
gion and the not teaching of it, so that they taught it, but yet must not
call it religion ! We put the gentlemen between the horns of a dilemma^--
we said if you do not teach religion, then you are chargeable with making
our common schools seminaries of infidelity — if you do teach it, then you
do exactly what excludes religious societies from a right to participate in
the fund ! But these gentlemen, with great skill and critical acumen, and
a little sophistry, were able to steer by a line, invisible to my mind, be-
tween the lionisof the dilemma.
In describing the different kinds of instruction, Mr. Sedgwick says :
"But, beyond that, there i.s still another branch of instruction which is properly
c&WeA rd'ujioiis, and it is because two phrases— 'religious ' and 'moral '—have been
used o;c:ibionally without as accurate apprehension of their signifioatisn, that the doca-
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 191
mentg of the trtstees have been misconstrued. But when the term 'moral ' education
is used, it only means that education which instructs th6 children in those fnndampiital
tenets of duty which are the basis of all religion."
That is to say you build the roof before you lay the foundation. For
whence, I ask, will men get their knowledge of duty, if not based on a
substratum of religion ? But here morality so called is made the basis of
religion. Well, let us apply this to the schools, and see whether any
Christian parent would submit to have his children placed under such a
system.
There is a child at one of these schools — they tell him not to lie, but
children are inquisitive, and he asks, "Why should I not lie 1" You must
answer, because God abominates a lie — there you teach religion ! You ex-
plain the reason why the child should not lie, that religion requires, and
affords the reason of the performance of the duty — not that the duty is the
basis of religion. It is not enough to tell the child you are to speak the
truth, and when you knovr and fulfil your duty then you may learn that
there is a God to whom you are responsible. Washington himself in his
Farewell Address, cautioned the nation against the man who would at-
tempt to teach morality without religion. (Cheers.) He says :•
" Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and
morality are indispensable supports. In vain woulcf that man claim the tribute of
patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these
firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the
piou.s man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their
connections with private andpublic felicity. Let it be simply asked, where is the secu-
rity for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligations desert the
oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us
wUh cautwn indulge the suppontioTif that morality can be maintained without religion.
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar
structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Had we not thenj I would ask very respectfully, a right, when every pe-
tition had been rejected on the ground that the petitioners had a religious
belief to infer that religion formed no part of their system of education,
and that the consequence which we charged upon them, and that Mr.
Cornell repudiated with so much horror, inevitably and justly followed —
namely, that the Public School Society was favorable to the sectarianism
of infidelity ?
I now go on to show what the Public School Society boast of having done
in our regard. They had ofiered in reply to our objections to passages in their
books, as, for instance, where it was stated that " John Huss was a zealous Re-
former, but trusting to the deceitful Catholics, he was taken by them and
burned at the stake " — to expunge such objectionable passages when they were
pointed out. They said, " Bishop, we submit our books to you, and if you
will have the goodness to point out any objectionable passages we will expunge
them." Well, certainly there was something very plausible and apparently
very liberal in this offer. But when the matter was pressed, it was fohnd that
all this was merely the expression of individuals — there was no guarantee that
the books would be amended. Weeks and months might be spent in examin-
ing the books, and then the approbation of the Board was necessary in order
to effect the altej-ation. Did they say that it should be given ? Never.
I pass now to another point, for observe, I do not at all think myself caHed
on to say one word in vindication of the able and eloquent and satisfactory re-
port of the Secretary of State. (Cheers.) That is not necessary. The language
of that document will be its own vindication, when the petty sophistries raised
against it shall have been long forgotten ; for, be assured, gentlemen, that what-
ever may l)e the temporary opposition to any public measure, from the moment
that I here is discovered to be inherent in it— of its essence — a principle of jus-
192 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
tice and equality, its ultimate triumph is certain, and all the opposition which
it encounters will have no more effect on it, than that of the breeze which
passes over the ocean, rufSing its surface, but destroying nothing of the
mighty and majestic element which it seems to fret and disturb. (Cheers.)
I take up this, then, not to vindicate the report, but rather in reference to
the insulting attempt, as I will call it, to deprive Catholics of the free exercise
of their own consciences, and the respect and esteem of their fellow-citizens.
In reasoning on the subject, observe the course that is taken by Mr. Cornell —
he enters into a comparison between the schools of the Public School Society,
and ours — ours supported in poverty, the humblest that may be, but still sup-
ported in a way sufficient to show our determination not to give up our rights,
or relinquish the maintenance and defence of a sound and patriotic principle.
But this gentleman compares these, our schools, with theirs on which more
than a million of tlie public money has been expended, whilst we have been
virtually shut out from all benefit from the public funds, not by any law of the
State, but by a vicious interpretation of the law. He requires us to furnish as
perfect a system as they do, with the expenditure of a million of doUare ! Ho
is reasoning with the Secretary, telling him in effect that we are troublesome
and designing people, and he says :
"Bat having in view the stringency with which the same party insisted on the ne-
cessity of religion in juxtaposition with secular education, and the warmth with which
they denounced the Public School system when they saw fit to charge it with exclud-
ing religion, and particularly when reference is had to their avowed dogma, that there is
no hope of salvation to those not of the Borrmn Catholic Church — which dogma is tww taught
in their
I thank God, that the Catholics — the long-oppressed of three hundred years,
during which the ear of the world was poisoned with calumnies against them
— have now liberty of speech, and ability to exercise it, and I call Mr. Cornell
to account for what he has here written, and to which he has affixed hi« name.
He says : " When reference is had to their avowed dogma, that t liere is
no hope of salvation to those not of the Roman Catholic Church — which
dogma is now taught in their schools."
The Catholics avow every " dogma " of their religion ; but the two state-
ments employed by Mr. Cornell are \iot\i false. It never was and never can
be a dogma of ours, that there is " No hope of salvation to those not of the
Roman Catholic Church." Neither is that dogma taught in our schools.
This false statement must be accounted for by Mr. Cornell's ignorance of
our doctrine on the one hand, and on the other his disposition to injure us.
I call upon him, I arraign him before the people of New York and the
Senate, whose confidence he has attempted to abuse, to prove his statement,
or else to retract it.
And here it may be proper for me to explain something of this matter,
for I know that in the minds of Protestants almost universally there is that
idea, and that in the theological language of the Catholic Church there is
apparent gi-ound for entertaining it. But at the same time I do know that
that language, properly understood and fairly interpreted, does not imply the
dogma imputed to us by Mr. Cornell.
It is very true that we believe that out of the true Church of Christ there
is no salvation — fir.st proposition.
It is true that we believe the Catholic Church to be the true Church of
Christ — second proposition.
It is very true that notwithstanding these propositions, there is no dogma
of our creed which teaches that a Protestant may not hope to be saved, or
may not go to heaven. Now, how is this explained ? In this way. When
we speak of the Church we mean the Church as Christ, and his apostles did
— in the sense, that the ordinary means for the salvation of mankind are tlie
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLI. HALL. 193
doctrines and institutions wliioh Jesus left on earth, which have all descended
in the Church with our history and our name. Tliis we believe, but we do
not believe that God has deprived Himself, because He instituted these things,
of the means of saving whomHe will. AVe do not believe that on this ac-
count the power of the Almighty is abridged. Hence it is consistent with
our dogmas to believe, that God, who is a juit Judge, as well as a merciful
Father, will not condemn any one for involuntary error. Their judgment
will be individual; they were externally out of the Church, but was it by
their own will or the accident of their birth and education in a false relig-
ion ? ' Did they believe that religion to be true, in good faith, and in the sim-
plicity of their hearts ? Were they ready to receive the light and grace of
truth as God might oifer it to them ? Then, in that case, though not belong-
ing to the Catholic Church by external profession, they belonged to it by
their internal disposition. -
Consequently we are not authorised to deny hope of salvation to those not
of the Catholic Church, unless so far as the errors in which they have been
involved, have, been voluntary and culpable on tlieir part. And this is no
new doctrine, as our opponents would have seen had they consulted tlie
writings of the highest authorities in our Church. St. Thomas Aquinas —
one of the greatest minds that ever contributed to enlighten the human race,
as Protestants themselves acknowledge — writing in the 11th or 12th centnry,
speaits of a man who is not even a Protestant but a Pagan — a man wlio has
never heard of Christ or of Christianity, and he, supposing that man to be
moral — sincere — acting according to the best lights God has given him — tells
ns, God would sooner send an angel to guide him to the way of salvation,
than that such an one should perish. Such is the sentiment of St. Thomas
Aquinas expressed in his works, and his works are approved of by our
Church. — How then can Mr. Cornell or any other individual say that we
enter into judgment respecting those who die out of the pale of the Church ?
I publicly call upon Mr. Cornell to retract or qualify his official statement.
Sentiments according with those I have quoted from St. Thomas Aquinas
I have myself preached in the Cathedral of Xew York, and similar ones
have been abundantly proclaimed by others, and amongst them I would
mention a very distinguished French Bishop — then the Abbe Fressinous. In
the third volume of his Conferences, he has one special sermon on the sub-
ject of Exclusive Salvation, and he shows that of all Christian denomina-
tions there is no one more abounding in charity on this point than the Cath-
olic Church. The same explanations are to be found in the writings of Bos-
suet, St. Francis of Sales, and St. Augustine.* With these facts well known,
* Salvation out of the CHnECH. — In concluding this sinaple and brief view of the
Catholic doctrine, it may be well to state here what is to be correctly understood of that
Catholic sentiment, " Odt of the Chubch there is no salvation."
" We do not pretend to deny, (says Mr. Bergier,) that there are numbers of men
born in heresy who by reason of their little light, are in invincible ignorance, and con-
sequently excusable before God : these, in the opinion of all: judicious Divines, ongbt
not to be ranked with heretics." This is the very doctrine of St. Augustine, (Epis.
43, ad glorlam et alias, n. 1.) St. Paul tells us, in his Epistle to Tiius, c. 3, ' A man
that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid ; knowing that he that is
such a one, is subverted and sinneth, being condemned by his own judgment.' As to
those who defend an opinion, either false or perverse, without obstinacy, and who have
not invented it from a daring presumption, but received it from their parents after they
were seduced and had fallen into error, if they diligently and industriously seek for the
truth, and if they hold themselves ready to embrace it as soon as they shall have found
it, such as these also are not to be classed with heretics." L. 1, de liapt. contra Donat.
c. 4, n. 5. i-, V c
" Those who fall with heretics, without knowing it, believing it to be the Church of
Jesus Christ, are in a different case from those who know that the Catholic Church is
spread over the whole world." — L. 4, c. 1, n. 1.
" ibe Church of Jesus Christ may have through the power of her spouse, children
13
194 ARCHBISHOP HrGHES.
how did those gentlemen venture to take advantage of the.r and our rela-
tive situations, and calumniate us when we had no opportunity of repelling
the unfair attack ?
Besides, Mr. Cornell says— "Which is now taught in their schools.' I
deny the truth of that statement, and demand his authority.
But now, would it, think you, he improper on my part, considering that
Mr. Cornell is not present, to intimate some of the liherties which ho has
taken with us in our absence ?
throngliout this document, lie has labored to prove tliat we are Catholics,
and not only that, but to show what our religion i.s, though I am ratlier at a
loss to imagine where he .studied Catholic theology, in uhich if he should
persevere, I would suggest to him to consult better authorities than the
" Journal of Commerce "' and " Tristniin Sliaiidy." (Laughter and cheers.)
Now it never occurred to us to nsk of what religion is Mr. Cornell and
the Public School Society. The whole ground assumed by them is, tliat
they are not a " religious society "—well wliat are tlicy ? Are they an irre-
ligious society ? Not at all. They are members of churches, and I have
taken the pains to ascertain that Mr. Cornell is a member of Dr. Spring's
Church, and if he lectures the Catholics, would it be very wrong in me to
speak of the doctrines of his creed? Let us look at the Westminster Con-
fession of Faith, the rule of Presbyterian dogmas, and see whether Mr. Cor-
nell opens the gates of Heaven to all religious denominations. I quote from
the Westminster Confession, as adopt*! and amended in the United States,
and published by Towar and Hogan, Philadelphia. In page 111 it is said :
" The visible church consists of all those throughout the world that peofess
the true religion."
So to be a member of the visible church, you must " profess " the true
faith — " together with their children " — happy children ! (a laugh)—" and
this is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of
God, OTJT OF -WHICH THERE IS NO ORDINAKT POSSIBILITY OF SALVATION."
Here is another statement of Mr. Cornell : " They are not merely the in-
cidental remarks of the historian, or extracts from the Holy Scriptures,
' without note or comment,' to which such strong exception has been taken
in relation to the Public Schools, but they are such as ever have, and in the
opinion of your remonstrants, must ever tend, if sustained by tax imposed
upon the anathematized portion of the community, to destroy public har-
mony ; and such as would prove anything rather than a social ' benefit.' "
Now, by using the word "anathematized" he conveys the impression
that all out of the pale of ourChurch are under our anathema. I demand
the proof. I have studied our holy religion many a day, but never jet
have I discovered any such anathema, and I defy Mr. Cornell to point it
out.
Mr. Cornell goes on to say : "Your remonstrants had supposed that the
fact of the Public School Society being composed of men professing every
variety of religious faith, would neutralize sectarian tendencies and secure it
against almse.^'
Now, there is something exceedingly specious in this, but it is indeed a
very spurious position. They refuse our application on the ground that
we are a religious society, and when we charge them with not being
a religious society, they repudiate it as a stigma on their character.
And what is their remedy ? That they " will neutralize sectarian tenden-
cies by the variety of the religions that they introduce." How is this ?
They are all members of churches— and that does them honor — but when-
and servants ; if they grow not jjroud, they shall have part in Hia inheritance ; but
if they are proud, they shall remain without." Ibid. c. 16, n. 23.
SPEECHES IIT CAEEOLL HALL. 195
ever they come within the magical circle of their official character, then,
like negative and positive brought together in just proportions, they neu-
tralize each other ! ! Is this really the position that these gentlemen as-
sume ? How arc tlie Trustees chosen ? In the most beautiful manner 1 One
or two Catholics are taken — a Universalist — perchance, and so of other de-
nominations, and theiy they say, " We are of all religions !" You will iind
that the mass of the Society belongs to one sect, of which little or nothing
js said, and that an odd one is taken from each of the other sects, to sanc-
tify their acts ! There is a sufficient majority of one denomination. There
is atendency and aim which I am not unwilling to, proclaim — a secret- un-
derstanding— not so very secret either — to the effect that ''as there is a
large foreign population in New York, and mostly Catholic, our liberties
would not be safe unless the interests of Catholics were neutralized in their
education." We reject that idea with scorn, that Catholics have to learn
the principles of liberty from them. At a period when Protestantism was
as little dreamt of as steam navigation. Catholics were the schoolmasters of
liberty to the nations of the world, in the principles of liberty. They were
Catholics who wrung the great charter of English liberty from the hands
of the tyrant. And was that their first eifort in the cause of freedom ? No.
That was only the written recognition of their rights, which the encroach-
ments of his predecessors had diminished, and having thus secured their
rights, they maintained them down to the period of the Reformation, wheji
their high and honorable notions of liberty were trampled in the dust, and
were never restored till the Revolution, and when that so boasted event in
the Iristory of England took place, it only recognized the rights lost at the
peiiod of the Reformation, wliich Catholics for centxiries before had known
and enjoyed. Let them not sny, then, that our religion is inimical to lib-
erty— that is a reproach which we spurn — which we abominate and abhor!
We have nothing to learn from them of human liberty. Their part is to
imitate us, not ours to imitate them I (Loud applause.)
If that is the principle referred to, we understand it perfectly well, and
it is of no use for those gentlemen to moot it for the purpose of showing that
our claim should be denied. Was that indeed their object ? Not at all.
But their object was, with hands that should have been better employed,
to rake up that wretched remnant of prejudice against us, and pander to
the vitiated taste that could relish it.
We see, then, that so far as this " Remonstrance" is concerned, there is not
one solitary proposition which should for one moment have arrested the
minds of the Legislature. The bill proposed by the honorable Secretary of
State contemplated no special favor. Much as I honor that distinguished
individual, I would not esteem him, as I do, if he had in his bill proposed
anything which should have raised us above our fellow-citizens of other
denominations. But the bill only places us on an equality with others —
with that we are satisfied — with nothing less will we ever be satisfied.
(Loud cheers.)
But, hitherto, these gentlemen have assumed various shapes. They have
viewed with self-complacency the beauty of their system, and as for their
few schools — few in comparison with the number of destitute and unprp-
vided children— I have nothing to say against them. I proposed to place
our schools under their direction, so far as regarded their police and man-
agement. But I would not permit them to teach our childret that Catho-
lics were deceitful — that Galileo was put into the Inquisition and punished
for the heresy that the earth revolved on its own axis around the sun.
Galileo's crime was not teaching sound philosophy, but bad theology-
wishing the Church to declare that his theory was in accordance with the
Scriptures. For reasons like these I would not allow them to mislead our
196 ABCHBISHOP HUGHES.
children, but I was willing to allow the gentlemen the external manage
inent of our schools. They, however, would have universal rule, or none
at all.
What has been their panacea for all complaints 1 To invite the City-
Council to visit the schools ! And certainly, I presume, it would be impos-
sible to visit their schools, without being satisfied with thex" appearance.
But had I been able to have made my voice heard in the Senate of the
State, when they made the proposition to visit their schools, I should have
proposed something like an amendment. I would have prayed these sen-
ators, in the name of humanity and their country, and of all the beneyo-
lence that beats in the human breast, to visit — not the schools, but the
lanes and alleys and obscure resorts of the poor neglected children of New
York, and there see, not how much is done, but how much is left undone.
These are the portions of the city that should be visited. It is utterly im-
possible, owing to their scattered condition, to learn the numbers of chil-
dren in this city who are deprived by these gentlemen of the blessings of
education. We, who mingle with the people, and have the opportunity of
learning the dislike of this system — that they would no more trust their
children to it, than to that tyrannical system of British misgovernment
which their fathers knew so well, and from which they derived that sad
legacy of ignorance and poverty. I refer to the laws which made educa-
tion a crime in Ireland, and which have left the inhabitants of that country
the degraded but unbroken people that they are to this day, after a perse-
cution of three hundred years. (Cheers.)
It is for these poor, neglected, uneducated children, that I plead. Their
parents will not send them to the Public School whilst constituted as at
present, and I approve of their resolution. I trust they never will send
their children to schools managed by men who can send to the Senate of
this State a burlesque upon our creed, and represent it as a genuine
exhibition of our faith and principles. Bather will we trust to the kind
and merciful Providence of God, than voluntarily relinquish a principle by
which we mamtain the right implanted in the breast of every parent, and
secured by the laws, to have a voice in the education of his child. It is
these children that should be visited. Then would these Honorable Sen-
ators, whom I know to be above all those petty prejudices which have been
appealed to, do justice, and apply a remedy so far as the law would au-
thorize them.
I must now soon conclude my remarks for this evening. I will merely
refer to the objection of the Society to the bill of Mr. Spencer — its tendency
to introduce party politics. Everything is held in this country to be in the
hands of the people ; yet these gentlemen, after enjoying a monopoly for
sixteen years, think it a great misfortune if the tax-payers should be
allowed a voice at all in the selection of the teachers in the schools which
they support, or any share whatever in their management.
The next objection to the bill is, its want of uniformity. Because they
happen to have school-houses exactly one like the other, and have a uni-
form style of books, the large, and liberal, and statesmanlike plan of the
Honorable Secretary should be ^ven up, because, forsooth, these "humble
almoners" pronounce it void of uniformity 1 " Humble almoners," who,
after coiling their roots around the Common Council, and making them
judges in the cause, go to Albany to defeat our claims. Well, they may call
themselves "humble almoners" if they please, but they remind me very
Aiuch of the beggar in Gil Bias, who, when he asked alms, always took good
care to have his musket ready !
I have now gone briefly throtigh this part of the subject, and I ask you
whether we can have any confidence in men who can stoop to such artifices
SPEECHES IN CAREOLL HALL. 197
as I have exposed ? I call upon tbem to vindicate themselves frouj tho
diahonoi- of having circulated that document from Tristram Shandy. It
was done by one of their colleag'ies and their official agent, who when
charged with it, replied that he had done so under instructions?
What instructions ? Did they instruct him ? If not, let them
say so by a public act. Until they do so, we justly chai-ge them
with being the traducers of our reputation — I charge them on
the ground that they are responsible for the act of their agent,
and they should have known better. Gentlemen claiming to be ex-
clusively the judges of what is a proper system of education — who hold
that you are unworthy of having anything to do with the schools of New
York — should have known that that document was from Tristram
Shandy, written, I presume, for his amusement by Mr. Sterne — who, though
numbered amongst the clergy of the Church of England, was believed to
be an infidel — a man, who secretly scoffed at every thing sacred — and the
working of whose rank imagination is too offensive for the eye of delicacy.
Surely, then, these gentlemen should not have drawn weapons from such a
source, for the purpose of destroying the reputation of any class of their
fellow-citizens.
This is not the first occasion on which we have been misrepresented, and
religious gentlemen, whose avowed purpose it is to preach the gospel of
peace, have taken up the habit of abusing us, and have rung the changes
on this topic, till in some instances some of their audiences — more liberal
than they — have left the place disgusted. They remind me of a saying of
this same Sterne, who when quizzing the credulity of the people of Eng-
land— for he was a great wag — said tliat occasionally he was straitened
for the price of a dinner, but he could always manage to make a good meal
of OliesJiire cheese; taut it also happened, that oftentimes he was in a similar
strait in his official capacity, and was called on to preach when he had not
a word of a sermon prepared, and then he took " a fling at Popery." The
people went away edified and delighted. For this reason he says, " I call
Popery my Cheshire cheese 1' (Loud laughter,) It seems to me that the
occupants of half the pulpits of New Yjork,.are nearly in the same predica-
ment, and would die of inanition, were it not that their stock of "Cheshire
cheese " is still unexhausted. (Renewed laughter and applause.)
1 think I can safely say, that in none of our churches will you hear such
abuse. AVe never touch upon secular affairs— you will not even hear from
our pulpits, harangues about abolition. We.explain and defend our creed,
and I trust, preach chq,rity, and peace, and order. But it is not so with
those who assail us as I ' have described, as I will have occasion to show,
when treating of Mr. Ketchum's speech, which I intend to do on to-mor-
row evening.
The Bishop then concluded, after speaking nearly two hours, and a vote
of thanks having been passed to the Chairman, the large and attentive
meeting adjourned.
THURSDAY EVENING!, June ITth.
The audience on this occasion was still more numerous than on the pre-
vious evening. Several distinguished senators, and influential gentlemen
of other denominations, were present. The meeting was organized by the
appointment of the same Chairman who presided at the former meeting —
and at eight o'clock
The Right Ret. Bishop Hughes resumed his remarks as follows : The
198 iECHBISHOP HUGHES.
question, Gentlemen, which has called us together, has had two stages of
progress which must be kept distinct, in order to comprehend its present
position. We have from time to time applied to the Common Council of
this city for relief, which we knew they had the power to grant, and we
had applied as it were in an isolated, and, if you please, in a somewhat
sectarian character. The reason of this will be easily understood,^ when
you reflect that we had no intention to disturb the system of education so
generally approved by our fellow-citizens. Our object was not to destroy
that which was good for oihers, if they thought so, but to find something
that might be equally good for ourselves. Accordingly, w6 applied as
Catholics, because it appeared that 'there were no other denominations
whose consciences suffered under the operation of that system. _ And we
did suppose that these considerations would have had some weight with
the Honorable Council. We might — as we are reproached with not having
done — we might have interfered with the regulations of these schools —
asked for a different order of books — required the erasure of such and such
passages, and the insertion of others. They reproach us with not doing so.
But if we had done so, it would, in the first place, have been pains thrown
away, and in the second place, we might thereby have disobliged many of
our fellow-citizens of other denominations. Without at all pressing the
question upon them, farther than observing that even the reading of the
Holy Scriptures according to the Protestant version, was looked upon by
us as an invasion of our conscientious rights, they took it up as an objec-
tion against the reading of the Scriptures at all ; as if the presence of a
Bible within the walls of a school was a thing we could not bear. It is
needless to say how wrong that inference was. But we did not at all wish
to disturb the Protestant's approbation of hii version of the sacred volume,
nor the order that seemed so generally approved, and that was the reason
of the mode of our application. In the course of my speech, therefore, you
will understand, that we did not so apply for relief, because we wished to
be apart, separate from the rest of the community — that it was not because
we were exclusive or intolerant, as they have charged upon us ; but because
we supposed that they would not wish to have their children hear the
Catholic version of the Bible read, and therefore they have no right to im-
pose on our children the hearing of the Protestant version. If that be
sectarianism, then we plead guilty to the charge ; but without feeling and
acting so, we could not have our consciences simple, and in their integrity
upright towards God.
When, however, after having gone through the ceremony — for it was
nothing else— of appearing before the Common Council, and having been
heard and denied, as a. matter of course, when we had gone through the
ceremony required by the formulary of the law, then, indeed, we threw our-
selves on our general rights as citizens, and appealed to that tribunal, to
which we must always look with confidence for the redress of every griev-
ance that presses on us in our social condition. Nevertheless our opponents
followed us there, and fastened upon us the character, in which it had been
the duty imposed on us by necessity to appear before the Common Council.
We have had occasion already to point out some evidences of tl;e use made
of that in the " Remonstrance." You read with what recklessness of truth
—I am sorry to say— it was charged in that document, that we were in-
tolerant—that we taught there was no salvation out of the Catholic Church,
and so forth. There are in that document of the Public School Society,
many other passages requiring examination, but as the substance of them
is contained in the speech of the learned gentleman who was their official
oi-gan before the Senate, I suppose that the refutation of the one, will be
the refutation of both ; and, therefore, I deem it unnecessary to refer further
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 199
to tliat memorial. They — that gentleman particularly — referred in the
course of the debate, to a proposition for accommodation on the part of
the Society previous to the last decision of the Public Council. They-
alleged that nothing could be fairer, but when we had examined that, we
found that of not a solitary grievance of which we had complained did it
take notice. Not the slightest notice. The whole proposal was that they
should correct the books, so far as their guardianship of the rights of con-
science — for they are conscience keepers for the different sects in this com-
munity !— would allow. They would accommodate us by striking out
passages insulting and offensive to our minds, and injurious to our children.
That was all the amount of the concessions. Then the second proposition
was, that they would purchase from us — they can aftord to do so — the only
school-house which our humble means have enabled us to erect during the
sixteen years of privation from the bei;ieiits of Common School Education.
These were the only two features that distinguished that offer of accommo-
dation. But Mr. Ketchum did not find it convenient to read the proposi-
tions that we submitted at the same time, and which, candor should have
acknowledged, removed from us every imputation of being actuated by
sectarian motives, or having in view the appropriation of the public money
to the propagation of our religion.
I will now commence with reading but a small portion of that, sufficient,
however, to show you that on this ground, so far as information was con-
cerned, they had it ; and if, with that in their possession, they conceal the
truth, and suppressed it, on their heads be the responsibility that attaches
to such conduct.
"What is the great difficulty — the legal difficulty ? That public money
can not be applied to sectarian uses. Very well. "We met that ; we said
here are propositions that cover our whole ground :
*' That there shall be reserved to the Managers or Trustees of these schools respec-
tively, the desigoation of the teachers to be ajxpointed, who shall be subjected to the
examination of a Committee of the Public School Society, shall be fully qualifled for the
duties of their appointment, and of unexceptionable moral character; or in the event of
the Trustees or Managers failing to present individuals for these situations of that
description, then, individuals having like qualifications of unexceptionable character, to
be selected and appointed by the Z-*ublic School Society, who shall be acceptable to the
Managers or Trustees of the Schools to which they shall be appointed ; but no person
to be continued as a teacher in either of the schools referred to against the wishes of the
Managers or Trustees thereof."
That was the first proposition, showing them that so far as the teachers
were concerned, all we wanted were men in whom we could place confi-
dence. The second proposition was :
" 2d. That the school shall be open at all times to the inspection of any authorized
agent or officer of the city or State government, with liberty to visit the same, and ex-
amine the books used therein, or the teachers, touching the course and system of in-
struction pursued in the schools, or in relation to any matter connected therewith."
So that there was no concealment there, they themselves should be the
inspectors, and I will say it boldly, that if they had been actuated by that
deejj feeling of humanity for which they claim credit, they would have ac-
cepted that proposal to take our children under their care affording to them
the same means of gaining future happiness as they did to others.
The document goes on :
" The undersigned are willing that, in the superintendence of their schools, every
specified requirement of any and every law passed by the Legislature of the State, or
the ordinances of the Common Council, to guard agiiinst abuse in the matter of common
school education, shall be rigidly enforced and exacted by the competent public authori-
ties.
" They believe that the benevolent object of every such law is to bring the means of
education within the reach of the child of every poor man, without damaging their re-
ligion, whatever it may be, or the religious rights of any such child or parent.
200 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
" It is irf consequence of what they consider the damaging of their religion and tbeir
religious rights, in the schools of the Public School Society, that they have been obliged
to withdraw their children from them. The facts which they have already submitted,
and which have been more than sustained by the sentiments uttered on behalf of the
Society, in the late discussion, prov&that they were not mistaken.
" As regards the organization of their schools, they are willing that they should be
under the same police and regulations as those of the Public School Society. The same
hours, the same order, the same exercises, even the same inspection.
" But the books to be used for exercises in learning to read or spell, in history, geo-
graphy, and all such elementary knowledge, as could have a tendency lo operate on
their heiiits and minds, in reference to their religion, must be, so far as Catholic chil-
dren are concerned, and no farther, such as they shall judge proper to put in their
bands. IJut none of their dogmas, nothing against the creed of any other denomina-
tion shall be introduced."
Reference is here made to the sentiments uttered by the advocates of the
Public School Society in their opposition to our claim before the Common
Council. Many of my present audience were perhaps there, and tliey can
remember what' an array of individuals otherwise distinguislied by their
character — what an array of bigotry and of prejadice, and we must say, of
profound ignorance, was presented against us. One reverend gentleman
came there and said, in reference to our objection to the Protestant version
of. the Bible, that one of our comments taught " the lawfulness of murder-
ing heretics." Before the Common Council, I brought that gentleman to
account, and I assure you, that considering his grey hairs, and the respect
that is due to age and the sacred character of a minister of peace, I felt
humbled at beholding the degraded position in which he found himself be-
fore I had done. He had however obtained a copy of an old version of the
Scriptures, published by the Catholic refugees in the time of Queen Eliza-
beth, who wishing to prepare the way for an invasion by the Spanish, wrote
a series of notes on the Scriptares which they thought would tend to effect
that end. So soon, however, as these notes became known in England and
Ireland, they were scouted with horror by all professing the Catholic name.
A few copies of that version, however, remained, lost and forgotten ; and an
ignorant publisher in Cork, thinking to make a profitable speculation, ob-
tained one of them, and not knowing, as was afterwards proved, the differ-
ence between it and the authorized version, he undertook to publish another
edition of it. In the process of publication, however, the character of the
work became known, and the Archbishop of Dublin forbade the publica-
tion. The publisher was ruined, and he commenced a suit for damages.
The matter was referred to in Committees of the Housfe of Commons, and
of the House of Lord.?, and all the particulars of the case were, of course,
thus given the greatest possible publicity. Well, the publisher being de-
prived of his anticipated sale in Ireland, where the Catholics would not pur-
chase such a book, thought that by sending some to this country, people as
ignorant as himself might purchase them, and thus the work might not
prove a dead loss. In this way a copy fell into the hands of one of these
gentlemen, and what do they do ? "Why about the same period that " Maria
Monk" was published — and I know not, but from the same press — they
emitted an edition of this Bible, in order to excite public odium against their
Catholic fellow-citizens ! It was then, with a copy of that in his hand, that
that clergyman came forward to prove, by" means of that forgery, that we
taught the lawfulness of murdering heretics. Then, besides that, there was
another gentleman, and he, in speaking on the subject of those very schools,
.and offering reasons why we should be denied the benefits of education, in-
stituted a comparison — all the others had, with great professions of respect,
and benevolent feelings for us, said " it was not because we were Catholics,
that they opposed us," oh ! no, they always qualified it — but he instituted a
oomparison between the religion of Fenelon and Voltaire, and with marvel-
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 201
lous candor, for^^etting the preface, admitted that he opposed us heoause wa
were Catholics! This gentleman said, that if he had no alternative, he
would sooner be of the religion of Voltaire, than that of Fenelon. These
are tlie sentiments to which I allude, and to which reference is here made,
wlien we say that such sentiments are only calculated to strengthen the con-
viction, that our Catholic children from the prejudices against their parent-
age and religion, had no chance-of justice in those schools.
The committee to whom was referred an examination of the schools, make
a report, and in that, after quoting the two propositions for accommodation,
they take occasion to say : — " Your Committee deem it proper to remark, in
vindication of the School Society, that they were only one of the num-
erous remonstrants against the prayer of the petitioners. Their views were
represented at the late discussion before the Board only by tlieir legal ad-
visers, Messr.^. Sedgwick and Ketchum. The other gentlemen who partici-
pated in the discussion represented other bodies, which are not in any man-
ner connected witli them. Sentiments were uttered by them which the
Scliool Society do not entertain, and for which they are not justly accountable.'
So they say, but by \vhom ? It would go abroad that this was a declara-
tion from the whole body of the Public School Society. I do not believe
tliat was the fact, and I have no reason to believe it. Because I do know
that these gentlemen used, or at least admitted, this sentiment — this bad sen-
timent of their associates — for the purpose of defeating us, and they were
perfectly satisfied with the victory, without at all disclaiming the dishonor-
able means they had employed to secure it. But as easily could the English
efface the stigma that rests upon them from their employment of the Indian's
tomahawk, during their warfare with America. And I ask them is tliere on
their records, a disapproval of the declaration of Dr.- Spring, or of Dr.
Bond? — the one, that we would murder heretics, and the other, that the
religion of Voltaire was to be preferred to that of Fenelon ? Have they in
any one official document disowned that ? We challenge them to show, tliat
the question of a disclaimer has ever been mooted ? On the contrary, we
have reason to believe, that they approved of these statements made by Drs.
Spring and Bond, and that from their own document too, signed by the
president and secretary, which goes nearly as far. And yet these are the
men to whom we are required to give the management of the education of
our children! They have hedged education around with an impenetrable
wall, beyond which no applicant from our body can 'be admitted, except on
terms that violate our civil and religious rights. A state of ignorance ana
degradation is the destiny assigned to those who will not submit to their
Procrustean system, to the dimensions of which all must submit to be adapted.
The Society acknowledge that Messrs. Ketchura and Sedgwick are their
official organs. Well, we find Mr. Sedgwick in the speech referred to on last
evening, absolutely disclaiming the teaching of religion. He said it was a
mistake to suppose that what was called religious instruction, meant anything
more than simple morality, which he stated to be the basis of all religion.
And do these gentlemen intend to reverse the order of the Almighty, and by
giving this precedence to morality, to say that men must be good without a
motive, and then they may learn religion ? How then can they quarrel with
us for saying, that they attempted^ what Mr. Spencer says well, is impossible,
to divorce religion from education ? It was on that ground that they appeared
before the Common Council and defeated our claims: for you saw yesterday
and to-day, the crime charged upon us, the disqualifying circumstance, was,
that we belonged to a religious society, and the public money was not to be
appropriated in any way except in the promotion of " purely secular educa-
tion." When we told them, that we supposed they were sincere in their
declaration; and that by divorcing religion from education, thusS leaving the
202 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
cLildi-en without the necessary motive to virtue and morality, and wholly des
titute of iiuy principle to curb their rising passions, they seemed to exclaim,
"Oh! what an impious set of men you suppose us to be. Atheists! " No
not exactly, but I accuse you of being what yourselves assume. You defeat
all applications made by a|:iplicants professing religion. You contend that,
religion must not be any part of state education. Well then how can you
bo dissatislied if we call you anti-religious, according to the principles you
have yourselves assumed ?
The fact is, that in order to conciliate those whose minds are haunted by
a certain spectre, of a union between Church and State, and in order to
bring them to the support of the Society, they pretended to meet their views
exactly, then again, on the other hand, attempted to satisfy the scruples of
conscientious parents, by playing the several sects one against the other, and
with so much adroitness, that the whole community came to the desired
conclusion, that the interests of education and morality were perfectly safe
in the hands of the Society, and could not be safe in the hands of any other.
In taking up the speech of Mr. Ketchum, I must premise that he has
divided it into two parts, and that of the many columns by which it is sup-
ported, the first two or thr^ee arc occupied with a detailed history of the
legislation, so called, of the Common Council on this question. Now, I
understand the part of this gentleman — who has perhaps as deep a knowl-
edge of the mystery of political wire-drawing as any other gentleman of his
profession in the State — I understand his introduction of this matter, entirely
foreign to the subject. His object was to impress the minds of the Senators
with the idea that in New York, the question had been decided — that Boards
of Aldermen had been changed — the position of parties changed — applica-
tions had been made, from time to time, for sixteen years, and that after the
gravest reflection, under all possible variety of circumstances, the answer
uniformly was, that it would be a violation of something that he calls "a
great principle " — which, however, he does not think proper to define — if our
claims were admitted. He wished to convey the idea that if there had been
any thing just, or proper, or true in our claims, it could not have escaped the
notice of public officers in New York — the immediate representatives of the
people, and that consequently, the Senators should approach the subject with,
minds already biased and prejudiced against us. The gentleman wished to
lead the honorable legislators to say, "What! shall we on the examination
pf one hour — at this distance from the city of New York — undertake to
reverse the judgment sustained by the uniform concurrence of the various
Boards that have constituted the public Councils of that city for sixteen
years ! " There was great generalship in all that, on the part of the learned
gentleman.
But I dispute the principle, in toto, which the gentleman assumes, and
before that Honorable Senate, I would maintain that the gentleman has no
foundation whatevei', for his assumption; and that this question should be
viewed by them as if approached for the first time.
And what is my reason for assuming this position? You will mark that
the learned gentleman frequently styles the Common Council " the repre-
sentatives of the people;" my argument in reply, then is, that so far as
regards this School Question, they never were the "representatives of the
people," for that question never was made one that could affect their election
in the most remote degree. At least, so we thought. So far as we are con-
cerned, we are right. True, whilst we were meeting to study this subject
and bring it under public notice, these gentlemen of the Society were ever
and anon charging i s with political designs, and I recollect something of an
amusing nature connected with that. It was my duty on the day succeeding
the Deblite before the Common Council, to proceed to Albany, for the pur-
SPEECHES IN CAKEOLL HALL. 203
pose of giving confirmation; I went — preaclied three times next day, Sunday
— on Monday, a very stormy day, I drove to Troy, for t)ie purpose of visiting
tlie olinrclies there, and on Tuesday, I returned to this city. Well, what was
the story? — of course, I do not say got up by these gentlemen, nor by the
Public School Society — but it was said, that I, having taken tea with tlio
Aldeimen, a bargain was struck between us, and I was to go to Albany, to
get thu Catholics to vote against theQovernor, and then all would be right!
(Laughter.) That was a specimen of the stories that were circulated ; but
while we were thus charged, they who brought the accusation were them-
selves not idle in that very department. The subject was introduced to tlieir
pulpits, and their congregations were lectured on it, and from that may be
traced the attempt to defeat Governor Seward.
But we never made this a political question, and the Common Council
never acted on it "as the rejiresentatives of the people," because it never
was applied as a test; but if the question were put between the Secretary's
plan and the Public School Society, the latter would soon break down any
Board that would undertake to support them. We were denied, it is true,
by the Common Council, but we never looked on them as acting in that
matter as the representatives of the people. We regarded them as indepen-
dent judges. And really there is little ground for surprise at their decisions
In the premises.
Now I will suppose a case. Let us take that of a bank, for it is, perhaps,
as good an illustration as I can furnish at the moment. A citizen has a con-
troversy with the bank, and that controversy comes to a trial. The citizen
complains that he is injured by the directors of the bank, he makes out his
ease, but in the end, he finds, contrary to all his just anticipations, and all his
views of justice, that he is defeated, and judgment given against him. Well,
he thinks this very hard. But he happens to learn that the judge, before
whom the case was tried, and the jury who rendered the verdict, are all
directors of the bank, and his wonder at the result of the trial ceases. Do
you see the application? These gentlemen after having excluded all religious
societies, made the word religion a kind of disqualification in a Christiaa
community in the year 1834 — after that, with the subtlety which proves that
they are wise in their generation, they get an act passed, by which the Com-
mon Council are made ex-offlcio members of the Public School Society, and
thus constituted them parties and judges in the cause. Let me not be mis-
understood. I do not suppose for a moment, that any gentleman of that
Common Council would, at any time, knowingly deviate from the path of
justice and duty, on account of his official connection with that Society.
But at the same time, I do know, that there is a powerful influence in asso-
ciation, against which the laws with great wisdom have guarded the judicial
bench, when they declare that a judge should be of a single mind — elevated
far above all selfish considerations — and whose interests could never be
affected by the result of any ofBcial act which he might be called on to exe-
cute, or any sentence which it might be, his duty to pronounce. Here, then,
were aldermen of different parties, elected from time to time, and so made
members — part and parcel — of this Society, and, I ask, would it h.Tve been
a gracious thing in them, after having been so honored with a place in it, to
become adverse to the interests of that body? Let us bear in mind, too,
that there is with most people a regard for consequences, and no alderman
could imagine he would greatly benefit his interests by opposing a corpo-
ration that has acquired nearly the whole control of all the public money
appropi-iated for purposes of education in New York, and having its depen-
dents spread from one end of the city to the other. I think it would require
a strong and elevated mind-, an unusual amount of moral courage, to enable
uny man, so' situated, to oppose such a corporation.
204 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
I do not, then, admit the reasoning of Mr. Ketclium, for I deny hia
premises, that the Common Council ever were " the representatives of the
people" on this subject.
I will now commence my review of this speech. I read it carefully from
beginning to end, and I was myself impressed with the idea that it scarcely
required an answer. I was quite convinced of that, so far as the honorable
Senators were concerned, because I knew that to the minds of men accus-
tomed to reasoning and to detect at a glance where the strength of a posi-
tion rested, that speech must have appeared a thing altogether out of
place. Nevertheless, it was hinted to me that the speech was not intended
for Senators alone, and the readiness with which Mr. Ketchum could fur-
nish the report went considerably to strengthen that opinion. It was said
that though to me the speech might seem weak, yet to the generality of
readers, particularly those unacquainted with the subject, it might seem'
very specious, and produce in their minds the very conclusions opposite to
those which we would wish established. On that ground I have taken it
up, and I must say that with regard to Mr. Ketchum himself, I have the
kindest possible feeling ; and i^ in the course of my remarks, I should
happen to speak in a manner seemingly disrespectful, I beg it may not be
considered as having been so intended. Of the gentleman himself, I can-
not say anything disrespectful — of his speech I hope I may be permitted to
say whatever the evidence may authorize. I mention his name with per-
fect freedom, because his name is attached to the speecli, and because prin-
cipally he is the official organ of that Society, and what he says is already
endorsed by them.
After his introduction, Mr. Ketchum says : " This probably may account
very sensibly for the fact, that in the city of New York the portion of the
school fund allotted to her, was to be distributed by these almoners of her
charity whom her representatives thought proper to designate. Now, I
ask, was there anything inconsistent with sound principles in this? Is
there anything in it which violates the principle of the largest lilierty, and
the purest democracy, of which we hear something in this Report?"
Stop, Mr. Ketchum ! I tell you there is not one word in that whole Re-
port against such a state of things as that you represent to the minds of
the Senators by making a wrong application. What is represented as con-
trary to the principles of our Constitution was the monopoly — the exclusive
system that has succeeded the former — and Mr. Ketchum is kind enough
to make an anterior reference to the period when all enjoyed the appro-
priation for the purposes of education. I stop him there, and say, that ho
makes a wrong application. He ought not to prejudice the minds of Sen-
ators or the community, by pretending that the Secretary's Report charges
on that state of things any trenching on the enjoyment of the largest
liberty.
Mr. Ketchum goes on : " In the city of New York, as I shall have occa-
sion to show by and by— and more or less I suppose it is so in all the States
of Christendom — there are voluntary associations — charitable associations
— associations composed of men incorporated or otherwise, who are willing
to proffer their services to feed the hungry ; to clothe the naked ; to visit
the destitute, and to see to the application of funds set apart for their relief.
Such men arc always to be found in large cities ; men of fortune, men of
leisure, men of benevolence, who are willing to associate together for be-
nevolent objects, and who are usually made the almoners of the charity of
others."
Now, Mr. Ketchum, in the whole of this, is gliding imperceptibly to the
point he wishes to reach. And what is that point? It is to fix on the minds
of the Senators that as religious societies formerly took care of their poor, and
SPEECHES IN CAKKOLI. HALL. 205
as other associations take care of other objects of benevolence, so they were to
look upon the Public School Society as taking care of education. In endeavor-
ing to etfect this conclusion, his reasoning glides imperceptibly as on a colored
surface which is black at one extremity and white at the other, but in which
the various shades are so nicely mingled that you cannot ascertain the point
where the change of color begins, so does the progress of his sophistry elude
observation. " Charitable Associations." Now, I will examine Mr. Ketchum's
philosophy here. I consider that there is here what may be called a rhetorical
fiction. He personifies the city of New York and calls it " she " — then he
takes her and places her one side, and places all the religious societies, and
benevolent societies — -the Public School Society amongst the rest, and that being
done, he says, the city of New York made them her " almoners." But when
we take these societies away where is "she" ? what becomes of her? (laughter
and cheers.) This is what I call a rhetorical fiction. Mr. Ketchum need not
pretend to say that the city of New York made " almoners." They were self-
created. When you take the religious societies, each having its charity school,
and this society, which we must not call irreligious, although it has always de-
feated its opponents by saying that they profess religion — these constitute the
people of New York, and they received the money set apart for that specific
purpose, and in their sovereign power and wisdom they applied it as they
thought proper. They managed it with perfect harmony, for I never heard of
the occurrence of a dispute when each section of the Community assumed the
management of their own schools, and it was on account of a charge against
one society of misappropriating the public money that the controversy arose.
Afterwards referring to the Legislature by which that state of things was
changed to the present, he says : — •" Hence, after many discussions in the As-
sembly chamber, discussions at which all the members were invited to attend
— and almost all of them did attend — for we had generally a quorum, although
it was before a committee night after night — theCommittee of the Assembly at
length made a report favorable to the prayer of the memorial ; but suggesting
in that very report whether even so much as was granted in the proposition re-
fen-ed to was not a violation of sound principle ; whether, in fact, religious
societies ought to participate in the enjoyment of the fund at all, because, by
such participation, the J&w might be made to support the doctrine of the
Christian, and vice mrsa, the Christian that of the Jew, the Catholic of the
Protestant, the Protestant of the Catholic, and so on."
What a splendid discovery ! The people hitherto living in perfect harmony,
all enjoying that appropriation of public money — not, perhaps, expending it in
the wisest manner, but at all events without disturbance or dispute. But all
at once it is discovered that because they are religious societies, it would be a
violation of sound principle to allow them the public money ! And why ? Be-
cause in that case the money paid by a Protestant might pass to the support
of a Catholic school — or, if you please, to the school of a Jew— and that involved
a violation of conscience. I confess, however, I cannot see that, nor do I think
any reflecting man can see it. But what is the fact respecting the turn of the
legislation in relation to the Public School Society, called, at that time, the
"Free School Society?" Simply that because at that Bethel Baptist Church
money had been improperly appropriated, occasion was taken not to punish
the guilty party, if there was guilt, but those \vho had memorialized against
the abuse of public money, and to disfranchise every man professing religion,
because the members of one particular church had abused their trust ! And it
is suspected that all this was not done without the secret instrumentality of
that very Free School Society itself, which then, as at the present day, pro-
fessed to have no religion at all. So that in this very Legislature — though I
know that another view of it is perfectly lawful— we see that the reasoning ap-
proved by Mr. Ketchum, would go to brand a stigma on the sacredness of re-
206 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
ligion— it would lead to the inference that because the adherents of one roligioua
sect have abused their trust in the employment of the public money, therefore,
all profession of religion should be an everlasting disqualification ! But I pro-
nounce such an inference unworthy the citizens of a land in whose Constitu-
tion Christianity is recognized. And I ask, where was the usual penctratior.
of Mr. Ketchum when he employed such reasoning ? By the laws of this State,
church property is exempted from taxation, and I am surprised that gentle-
men of such tender apprehensions can rest quietly at night, when they re-
flect that possibly Protestant money is going to make up the deficiency in
the revenue of the State, caused by the exemption from taxation granted
to Catholic churches ! But I see no harm at all in the state of things by
which money is thus transferred. All the churches are represented by all
the people, and it matters not an iota, if churches are exempted, the tax is
l^aid by the members in another form.
So with the Public School money.-, Although in the manipulation of the
money, it might happen that the identical, dollar paid by a Protestant might
pass into the ti-easury of a Catholic School, the Catholic dollar would go
back to replace it in the Protestant School, it would be in the end, all the
same, for the question is not at all about the identity of the money. If the
taxes could be kept separate, and the money paid by the Protestant go into
the Protestant box, and the money paid by the Catholic go into the Catholic
box, sure enough they would get their own money, but it would be all the
same if no such care had been taken. Here I would refer to the case of
chaplains in oar prisons, etc., not one of whom is a Catholic, but who have
often received the contributions ot Catholics, — -have they ever complained
that that was a violation of the constitution? Certainly not, and that prac-
tical view of the matter should have taught the gentleman the'futility of his
reasoning — that if the money of the one sect went into the hands of another
it was all the same — it was the money of the people received from them in
one form, and returned to them in another, allowing them in its employment
the noble and g'rand privilege — of which I trust they will not allow them-
selves to be deprived, no matter how they exercise it — of obeying the dic-
tates of their own free consciences (cheers).
In the conrse of his speech the gentleman makes a grand display of all the
sects that were set aside by the society. Then he asks the Senate "will this
honorable body grant to Catiiolics what was denied to all these ?" But
there is a difference here, and what is it? There is not on record, an in-
stance of a complaint on the part of any of these sects that their rights of
conscience were invaded. Episcopalians never made any such complaint—
nor did Presbyterians — nor did Methodists — nor did any of the other sects,
— but it happened that they had charity schools attached to their churches,
and they tlionght giving such education as the state required, they were en-
titled to their sliare of state bounty. But very diiferent was the case of the
Catholics. And now suppose tlie circumstances of the case were reversed,
and Catholics had the majority on which the society depends, and would era-
ploy the power conferred by it, in forcing on the whole community Catholic
books — and Catholic versions of the Bible — and give the children lessons
about the burning of Servetus, and the ignorance of a whole nation in sup-
posing the machine for winnowing corn, to be an impious invention, and de-
nonnoing these employing it as guilty of a crime against God who supplies
the zephyrs and the breeze — suppose that case, and that the aggrieved mi-
nority complained and applied for redress, I trust that on the face of the
earth tliere would not be found a Common Council of Catholics who would
refuse to listen to so just a prayer ?
Mr. Ket(!hiun says further wlien speakiog of the action of the Common
Council on this application, that it had been referred to a law committee, and
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 20'!
he quotes the decision of that committee. "We, knowing the manner in
which onr former applications were disposed of, need not, of course be sur-
prised at tlie manner in which this Report was expressed. To onr last ap-
plication made in the spring of 1830, — when I was absent from this cuuutiy
— to the Board of Assistant Aldermen, the usual negative was given ; but
then it is to be oliserved that that Board was surrounded by tlie advocates
of the Society, and these things which we have stated, and which they have
since acknowledged, were denied by them — and on that denial was grounded
the refusal of our application. The advocates of the society denied that
there were any passages in their books with which he could find fault —
averi-ed that they contain nothing disrespectful to our religion. But since
then, they have been obliged to retract that, and to acknowledge repeatedly
that in making these assertions they were not sustained by truth — that there
were passages in those books reflecting upon our faith — that these passages
had been taught to the children for years, and would have been'retuined till
this very day, had it not been for our detection and exposure. But it was
not at all surprising that under the infiuence of a sooietj', stretching its gi-
gantic branches over every quarter of the city, and hearing such assertions
from its advocates, the Board should deny our claim. — But let us glance at
the conolusion which Mr. Ketchum draws from such denial — he says : —
" That conclusion was ratified by their constituents ; and I believe that
every one of the religious societies, or nearly so, excepting the Roman Cath-
olics, acquiesced in that decision. But that society, year after year, has
come before the Common Council and renewed their request for a separate
portion of the school fund. AVith the best feelings for the applicants, in a
spirit of kindness ; with every disposition to do whatever could be done for
them, year after year, and without respect to politics, whether tlie one party
was in the ascendant, or the other party was in the ascendant, the Common
Council have, with almost entire unanimity, disallowed that request ; and I
believe that never in either Board, since the division of that body into two
Boards, has there been but one dissenting voice raised against the ratifica-
tion of that decision. Now, if the committee please — who have complained?
The Roman Catholics."
I repeat that I deny the philosophy of this reasoning. I deny that in any
case that portion, at least, of the community that has petitioned for a reform
of this system, ever looked to the Common Council as their representatives
on this question. And another argument against Mr. Ketchum's position is
that this public council were partizans in the case in which they were called
to deliver judgment. And I think that it would he well for that Public
School Society and the Common Council, if the latter by their election to
office are to be engrafted into the former, that the duty of judging between
them and the community, were delegated to disinterested parties.
Mr. Ketchum goes on to say : " No disrespect was intended them. The
Common Council, and every person engaged in the discussion of the ques-
tion on behalf of tlie Common School Society, took great care to say, ' we
do not reject you because you are Roman Catholics;' and as evidence of
this truth, we give you the fact that we have rejected similar applications
from powerful protestauts — but we reject your request -because we believe
that a sound general principle will not allow us to grant it." ^
So there was always a precaution observed. Indeed I myself remarked
that before the Common Council. They uniformly — with one exception —
said that they did not oppose us because we were Catholics. But Dr.
Spring wilh great magnanimity and candor neglected to take the hint, but
declared that he was apprehensive of our faith gaining ground. He would
oppose us and preserve the society as it was, even though the rights of the
Catholics should be damaged ; and tliat for his part he preferred the
208 aEjHbisiiop ritJGHKS.
religion of Voltaire to that of Fenelon ! The sentiment was indeed a black
one, and it was rendered blacker by the brightness of the candour with
which it was uttered.
Here again Mr. Ketchum states what is incorrect. He says : " We have
rejected similar applications from powerful Protestants."
I deny that. I refer him to the records of the Common Council, and I
will venture to afBrm that he will not find there one " similar application."
And why ? Simply because there Avas no ground for any such application.
For although one denomination of Protestants may differ from another
and may carry their attachments to their respective dogmas to great length,
vet there is one common ground on which they all, so far as I know,
without exception, meet. What is it ? That the Bible alone, as understood
by each individual, is their rule of faith. TJiey could therefore unite on
their public school question so far as the Bible was concerned. _ But then
they require that Catholic children whose creed never admitted that
principle should be taught that doctrine. They had not the same reason
that we had to go before the Common Council. We felt that we might as
well at once give up to them our children and allow them to educate
them as they pleased, as send them to their schools. I deny then the state-
ment "that similar applications were made."
He proceeds : " I say that the Corporation has been desirous, so far as
that body possibly could, so far as they felt themselves at liberty, consist-
ently with the maintenance of a sound general principle, to accommodate
these parties. They have granted a privilege out of this fund to the
Roman Catholic denomination, which has not been granted to any other.
The Sisters of Charity, so called, under direction of the Roman Catholic
Church, and connected with it, (I believe I am right — if not I should be
happy to be corrected,) established a most benevolent institution in the
city of New York, called the Orphan's Asylum — the Roman Catholic
Orjjhan's Asylum. They took into this institution poor and di stitute
orphans. They fed and clothed them most meritoriously — and they thus
relieved the city of New York of the maintenance of many who would
otherwise, probably, have been a charge upon it. After long discussion,
and with some hesitancy, yet overcome by the desire to oblige, and aware
of the limitation arising from the very nature of that institution, the
Corporation did permit the Catholic Orphan Asylum to receive money from
this fund ; and during the last year it received some $1,463 for the educa-
tion of about one hundred and sixty-five children — in common with the
institution for the blind, and the deaf and the dumb, and those other bene-
volent and Christian institutions which are altogether of a Catholic char-
acter in the most comprehensive acceptation of that term — as they are
under no sectarian influence or government."
And pray what sort of an institution is the Protestant Orphan Asylum ?
Is religion not taught there? And yet Mr. Ketchum singles out the Catho-
lic Orphan Asylum and speaks of the favor conferred on it, in order to show
the liberality of the Common Council. We are, indeed, grateful to that
body for having placed ours on the same footing with other institutions . of
a kindred character. But the Common Council have granted money to the
Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum, and denied an application upon a similar
grant to the Catholic. How can Mr. Ketchum assert that a '' privilege "
has been granted to us exclusively ? In reference to our last application
Mr. Ketchum proceeds : —
" The subject, I repeat, underwent a very full and free discussion ; and, after that
had terminated, the Board of Aldermen gravely considered and discussed the subject;
and, at length, after some delay, came to the conclusion that they would go and visit
the schools. Some of the members of the Board of Public Schools, feeling sensibly
SPEECHES IN CAEEOH HALl. 209
Mive on the subject, expressed to me an apprehension that this was a mere erasion, and
they feared that the question had now become mingled with politics. But I said, wait,
fentlemen ; let them go and see your schools — it is a natural desire— they ought to go.
t is a great and delicate question, and they ought to be acquainted with it in all its de-
tails. They went and visited the Public Schools, and the Roman Catholic Schools, and
they incorporated the result of their deliberations in a report which I have befnre me,
and from which I shall quote by and by. It is drawn up with great ability, and the de-
cision was, with but one dissenting voice, that the prayer of the petition'should be re-
jected ; and it was rejected."
On this I remark in reference to what I have, I believe, already referred
to, that there has been always a panacea for every evil — the appointment
of a committee to visit the schools. Why this is one of the easiest things
ill the world ? A little training — a little arrangement — a judicious wink to
Ihe teachers — will prepare every thing so that it will be very hard if a
pleasing exhibition could not be got up in any one of those schools for one
hour, on any day out of the three liundred and sixty-five in the year. But
this has been the invariable remedy — no looking at the wounds which the
system was from year to year, and from day to day, inflicting on less
favored portions of the community — no visit to the back streets and miser-
able lanes of this city, in which so large a proportion of its future inhabit-
ants are grovelling in exposure to vice and degradation. Nothing of that
■was thought of. But the schools enriched by the expenditure of more than
a million of money were inspected, and the gratified and approving visitors
returned to the Common Council to make their report that it was an excel-
lent system, perfect in its details, and admirable in its working, and it was
only the absurd bigotry and extreme ignorance of the Catholics that j)re-
vented them from reaping its benefits !
"When he compares with all this, the state of our humble schools. Well,
I will not pretend to say that the Catholic schools were in the best order.
But here I remark that whilst at every stagehand step of the progress of
this question, I have been obliged to controvert false statements, I can
challenge them to point to a single instance in which they could dispute
the truth of any of- our documents. And now I will give a passing notice
to that visit to the Catholic schools. Hear this statement. This committee
say:—
"We also visited three of the schools established by the petitioners, and we found
them as represented, lamentably deficient in accommodations, and supplies of books
and teachers ; the rooms were excessively crowded, and poorly ventilated, the books
much worn, as well as deficient in numbers, and the teachers not sufficiently numerous ;
yet, with all these disadvantages, though not able to compete successfully with the
Public Schools, they exhibited a progress which was truly creditable ; and with ine
same means at their disposal, they would doubtless soon be able, under suitable direc-
tion, greatly to improve their condition."
Such is their testimony.
And now shall I pass over this opportunity of making a comparison ?
When questioned before the Senate, the Society stated that they could not get
the children to come, and here are our schools crowded to excess ? I can
show you in a room not ranch larger than the square of the distance between
two of the columns supporting the gallery of this building in which we are
now assembled, upwards of two hundred children crowded together ! Yet
the Public School Society are obliged to pay $1,000 a year of public money
to visitors for the purpose of gathering children to their schools. For the
fact came out in the course of the investigation that they paid tliat sum
yearly to tract distributors for the purpose I have stated, whilst we in our
poverty could not find room or books or teachers for the multitudes of chil-
dren that thronged upon us, and whom this exclusive system consigns to »
degradation and ignorance and vice unless something he done for them by
others ! (Cheers.)
14
210 AECHBISHOr HTTGHES
Snoh is the testimony of that very committee. And yet the decision to
which they came is quoted by Mr. Ketchum as proof that " a great princi-
ple,"— of which no definition however is given from the beginning to the
end of his speech, — prevented them from granting our petition. Well, I
have called your attention already and would do so again to a point that
shows as clear as noon-day that this denial was not benevolent towards us, nor
in accordance with equal-handed justice. They had opposed ns as a sect—
as being Catholics. The Secretary of State, however — a man whose integ-
rity of character — ^legal knowledge — and profound and statesmanlike views,
have elevated him to the highest rank "in the community, — placed the ques-
tion on entirely differenL grounds. Mr. Ketchum in the last sentence of his
•peech before the Common Council declared that to the Public School So-
ciety the discharge of their duties were rather a burthen, which nothing but
the extreme benevolence of their nature had prompted them to assume, and
unless they were saved from this continued agitation they would throw it off.
Well, Mr. Spencer excludes all those objectionable features and places the
question on a broad basis, entirely removed from all sectarianism, and then
where are those benevolent gentlemen who were burthened with their
charge — these " humble almoners " of the public bounty ? At Albany,
ready for a new fight I Not for their schools, but to oppose the Secretary,
for Mr. Spencer only wishes to make education like the air we breathe, the
land we live in ; like other departments of human industry and enterprise,
free ! He would not hold the balance so as to afford the least advantage to
any paky, but would make all equal, and secure to them the enjoyment of
the rights established by the constitution of the country, and who opposed
him ? The Public School Society. Their interests were not invaded, but
they could not admit the principle that we were to receive education con-
sistently with the laws of the State ? Why ? You will find that in the
course of Mr. Ketchum's speech, he says the Public School Society could
not stand one day if education were made free ! If the monopoly which
they have wielded for sixteen years should be touched by the little finger of
free trade they would perish. " They cannot live a day." And, gentlemen,
if they cannot live one day on the principles of justice and freedom, then I
say that half-a-day's existence is quite enough for their exclusive system.
We have seen that Mr. Ketchum has introduced the committee to the
schools, and now he comes to the point. "Who, then, complain of the
operations of this system? Our fellow-citizens, the Roman Catholics.
Failing to get from the hands of a body thus constituted, the redress for
the grievance which they complained of, they come here and ask it of yon.
I say they come here, because I will presently show you from their memo-
rials, that none lut they come here."
He has brought it round to that, and he thinks if that be established the
same prejudices — the same means that were employed to defeat us in New
York would be equally efficacious at Albany. He says : " Failing to ac-
complish their purpose through the Common Council of the City of New
York, they come and ask it here. Failing in their application to a body of
representatives, to whom they have applied year after year, and who repre-
sent a population in which is intermingled a greater mass of Roman. Catho-
lic voters than in any other district of the State of New York."
See the advantage he takes of our known forbearance, and their activity
Because we, with honorable motives that should have been better appre-
ciated, abstain from making this a political one. But they did make it
such a question, and endeavored to deter all public men from rendering
justice to the oppressed Catholics. Now I am no politician — I belong to
no party — and I can also, perhaps, speak with the greater freedom, because
we have highminded friends and opponents too, amongst both political
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 211
parties, and I can, perhaps, give a satisfactory answer to Mr. Ketclium'g
allusion to " voters." Alter the election of the Governor, the papers in the
views of this societj' referred to it as a warning, and not only so, but indi-
viduals here wrote to the Governor in terms of reproach against the Cath-
olics and the Irish for not having been more grateful to him. They taunted
him with it. And how is that to be answered ? I should be sorry that
ever the Irish .should be ungrateful, under any circumstances, or ever forget
a friend ; and especially at a time when the high and noble principles of
justice and equality laid down by the fathers of this country seem to be
passing into rapid oblivion, if a public man stands up for the riglits of even
the Immblest portion of the community, he is entitled to the gratitude and
esteem of every man who loves his country. Not that the Governor con-
ferred on us any peculiar favor — I disclaim that — he never asked any thing
for us but what we conceived our right. But still he was taunted with
references to the ingratitude of the Irish, it was said " There is what you
got by advocating the cause of the Irish." That shows whether we made
our question a political one — and I am glad, in one sense, that the Irish did
not vary from the principles in politics to which they had been in the
habit of attaching themselves, because that demonstrates that whatever
may be the opinion of calculating politicians respecting the Irish, that
portion of the community have perhaps, after all an integrity of char-
acter and purity of principle which is not unfrequently found wanting
amongst more elevated classes of both political parties. It was discovered
then that the Irish would not abandon their principles through selfish
motives. But now let me ask what was the case on the other side? Many
of them turned directly round, abandoning all their old political associa-
tions and friends, in order to let Governor Seward know how much he had
dared when he declared for justice and equal rights to all (cheers).
Such was the case, and our opponents cannot deny it. Mr. Ketchum
then is unfortunate in his allusions. He ought not — if he had what I shall
not now mention^f he had presence of mind, I will say, he ought not to
have alluded to that matter at all, because it has brought up the proofs of
what was done by his own clients, while our vindication is triumphantly
effected. We have thus been enabled to refute all the charges urged against
us from the pulpits and religious presses at the disposition of the Society,
that we made a political question of it, and so forth. They did ; — but we
did not.
Gentlemen, I have dwelt longer on some topics than I intended, and have
made less progress in my review of this speech than I anticipated. On to-
morrow evening I will proceed with my remarks. [Loud and long-con-
tinued applause.]
' [On Friday evening the Bishop attended according to his intimation at
Carroll Hall, where, notwithstanding the extreme inclemency of the wea
ther, a very considerable audience was assembled. It was, however, deem
ed e?;pedient to adjourn 'the meeting till the following Monday.]
MONDAY EVENING, Jitne 31st.
On Monday evening an immense number of persons assembled to hear
the conclusion of the Right Rev. Prelate's Speech. The aisles and galleries
of the large hall in which the audience congregated, were densely crowded,
and in the body of the house it was impossible to obtain a seat for a con-
siderable time before the meeting was organized. Amongst those present
212 , AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
we noticed the Lieutenant Governor of the State, and many distinguished
Senators.
Shortly before 8 o'clock, Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was called to the chair
amid the acclamations of the meeting, and after the minutes of the former
lueetings had been read by B. O'Connor, Esq., the Secretaiy, the Right
ReT. Bishop HtiGHBS rose and was received with deafening applause. On
its subsidence he proceeded as follows :
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — I have had occasion already to observe
that the question which we are now discussing, has passed, or at least is
now passing through the second stage of its progress. In the first stage
we had to apply to the city authorities, and we were obliged by the circum-
stances of the case, and for reasons that I have already mentioned, to apply
in a character which we did not desire, but which was forced upon us by
circumstances, over which we had no control. The issue of that applica-
tion is known. Then we laid our grievances before the Legislature of the
State, and the Secretary of State to whom the question had been referred,
placed it upon grounds, altogether different from those on which it had
hitherto been considered. Consequently it was necessary for me in review-
ing Mr. Ketchum's speech, to consider it under two heads. And hitherto
my remarks on it have applied to the question under the circumstances
in which it was, previous to its reference to the Legislature of the State.
We have now however to consider it on the ground on which it has been
placed, in the able, and eloquent, and liberal report of the Honorable Mr.
Spencer. And I cannot avoid observing in the first place, that taking into
account, the principles of equality and of justice that pervade that docu-
ment, I did conceive that the Public School Society could not have found
any objections againstit. For you will recollect that Mr. Spencer removes
entirely the objections urged before the Common Council against the
recognition of our claims. These objections were grounded on the principle
that no sect or religious denomination had anything to do with the money
appropriated for the purpose of education. The Secretary has completely
obviated that objection. He has regarded the petitioners in their civil
capacity. He has exhibited the broad and general grounds on which every
public institution in this country is conducted, but we find these gentlemen,
nevertheless, as zealous, and their advocates as eloquent against Mr.
Secretary Spencer, as they had been against us. There can be no charge
now that a recognition of our claims would favor sectarianism — a union of
Church and State. All that has disappeared, and with it we had hoped
would have disappeared the opposition to our claims.
I will now follow Mr. Ketchum in his arguments before the Senate. And
first of all I would direct your attention to the number of times in which
he repeats that the petitioners are Catholics. He twists and turns that in
a variety of ways, in order to convince the Senators that though we applied
in the character of citizens, that advantage was to be taken away from us,
and we were to be clothed before that honorable body with our religious
character by the hand of Mr. Ketchum ! I should have less confidenee in
the stability of this government — less afifection for its constituted author-
ities, if I thought that such a circumstance could militate against us in the
minds of those gentlemen, who have been elevated by the suffrages of the
people to the guardianship of equal rights. (Cheers.) I conceive, therefore,
that Mr. Ketchum has mistaken the character of that assembly — that he
has exerted himself in vain to fix on as the epithet of Roman Catholics,
when we appeared in the character of citizens, and when our light in
worship God according to the dictates of our conscience had been already
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HAIL. 213
a priori recognized by the constitution of the country. And I ask, is there
any crime in Ijeing a Roman Catholic ? Is there any advantage to be
gained in bringing that against us? Is there anything in the liistory of
the country -wliich could justify the hope of prejudicing the minds of
senators by such lin allusion ! No. In the days when men stood side by
side and shoulder to shoulder, and blood touched blood in the battle strife,
and with their brave swords they won the freedom of their country, was it
asked who is a Catholic or who is a Protestant ? (Loud Cheers.) Had Mr.
Ketchum forgotten the names and deeds of Kosciusko, of Pulaski, or
LaFayetto, and the Catholic Soldiers of Catholic France ? Was there any-
thing said against that religion by the fathers of our country when they
laid the foundation of the liberties we now enjoy ? "Was there anysuch
charge against Charles Carroll when he came and signed that glorious
declaration, risking more than all the other signers together ? No. Nor
have we any cause to be ashamed of our religion, and God forbid we ever
should !_ I throw back, then, that maneuvre of Mr. Ketchum, and I tell
him this is not the country whose constitution makes apparent to the
world, that to be a Roman Catholic involves a deprivation of the rights
and privileges of citizenship.
^ Last year a petition was presented to the Senate, signed by Catholics
alone — this year the petition had other signatures. True, the petitioners
were generally Catholics, but others signed it too, and I hope and believe
that they thought they asked but for justice. However, Mr. Ketchum, in
order to accomplish his purpose, takes up the petition presented last year,
and taunts the Secretary as if he were guilty of artifice in making it appear
that the members of other religious denominations had joined in oui
petition. He says : " Probably, (continued Mr. Ketchum,) that circum-
stance was discovered by the Secretary's sagacity, between 1840 and 1841."
What does he mean by that allusion, except to remind the Secretary that
it was by prejudicing the public mind, by misrepresentations, that certain
partizans succeeded in diminishing the vote for his Excellency the Gov-
ernor ? If Mr. Ketchum does not intend that by this delicate hint, I should
like to know what he does mean. He then affects to take up the objections :
" Cue of the complaints is that the people are not represented in this Public
School Society ; that here is an agency used for a great public purpose
which the people do not directly choose ; and they complain of the Public
School Society being a close corporation."
Certainly all these are grounds of complaint, and all these are so clearly
set forth in the Report of the Secretary, that you have but to read that
document to^see that Mr. Ketchum cannot shake one solitary position of
that honorable gentleman. Is not the Public School Society a close cor-
poration? And is not Mr. Secretary Spencer's Report calculated to place
it on the same basis on which all our free public institutions are founded ?
Is the Secretary not a Reformer, then, in reference to that Society ? He
does here precisely what Lord John Russell attempts to do in England,
when he endeavors to break down the monopoly of the corn laws and to
make bread cheap. Mr. Spencer wishes to break down the monopoly of
education, and to make-voting and education, the bread of knowledge,
cheap. That is to say, that the same people who are supposed to be capa-
ble of choosing a Sheriff, or a Governor, or a President, without paying for
the privilege, should also have the right of choosing the teachers of their
children, without paying $10 for it. (Cheers.) Mr. Ketchum passes over
that very lightly. That is a point not to be seriously dwelt upon, and he
glides into the old charge prepared before the Common Council, and takes
up the old objections, although not one of them was presented in the peti-
tion beforo the Senate. Keeping always before the mind of the Senators
214 ARCHBISHOP HrGHES.
that we are Catholics, he afifects to take up these objections, and says :
" Now, I wish to call the attention of the Committee to the fact now to be
stated. There is no complaint in these memorials, nor will you hear any
from any source, that the Public School Society does not furnish to all the
chiklreu who attend their schools a good literary education."
Let me caution Mr. Ketchum not to be so fast, and I will give him _ my
reasons. From the manner in which the examinations are conducted, it is
the easiest thing in the world to have all ready prepared for the day of
visitation ; when the examiners present themselves, pet classes are arranged,
and in them pet pupils, who will perform their part admirably well. It is
easy to have all this array, and so it is to be regarded rather as an exhibi-
tion than an examination. But, if they desire their examinations to create
universal confidence, let them have them as they are conducted in European
Universities, where the pupils stand forward, and any person who chooses
examines them, when not the choice and prepared pupils are taken, but the
subjects of examination are selected indiscriminately from the classes. Let
such a method be adopted here, and I will venture to say that Mr. Ketchum
will not have anything to boast of over other schools. (Cheers.) I do not,
however, blame the visitors for not finding fault with the external manage-
ment of these schools. I think it excellent ; and the best proof of the sin-
cerity of that opinion was afforded in our willingness to adopt, and place
the superintendence of our schools in the hands of these very gentlemen.
But Mr. Ketchum goes on :
" The Roman Catholics complain, in the first place, that they cannot conscientiously
send their children to the Public Schools, because we do not give religious instruction
in a definite form, and of a decided and definite character. They complain, in the sec-
ond place, that the school books in common use in the Society, contain passages reflect-
ing upon the Roman Catholic Church. And they complain, in the third place, that we
use the Bible without note or comment — that the school is opened in the morning by
calling the children to order and reading a chapter in the Bible, — our common version.
These are the three grounds on which they base their conscientious scruples."
Now it is a fact that we do not complain of any one of these things in our
petition to the Senate. One of these complaints was expressed in the peti-
tion to the Common Council, and I have already explained the reasons of
that presentation. But in the petition to the Senate, we said in general
terms, that the conscientious scruples of a large portibn of our fellow-citizens
were violated by the system pursued in these schools. I will, however,
take up these objections in order.
Mr. Ketchum says that we complain, in the first place, that we cannot
send our children to the schools of the Public School S'ociety "because
religion is not tliere taught of a decided and definite character." Mr. Ketchum
certainly has not stated that objection correctly, for I defy him to find such
words in our petition. "We complained in general against these schools, that
,by divorcing religion and literature, they endangered the best interests of
cliildri<n who were to grow up to be men, and who, to he useful members of
the community, should have their minds imbued with correct principles, and
could not be so without being made acquainted with some religious princi-
ples. But we never complained that tliey did not give " definite religions
instruction." Far from it, and when Mr. Ketchum asserted that we did, I
am sorry to say that he asserted what he must or might have known to be
untrue. And how do I prove it? In our propositions to the Committee of
the Common Council, when they had gone through with their ceremony of
visiting the schools, and the Society had offered their propositions, the very
last article of our proposal was in these words : — " But nothing of their 'i. e.
Catholic) dogmas, nothing against the creed of any other religious denomina-
tion, shall be introduced." Mr. Ketchum saw that, and I ask him, how could
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 215
he undortake to make an argument by substituting language entirely difTer-
ent from ours, and presenting it as our objection? How could he say that
we lound fault with the Public School Society for not teaching religion in a
" definite form," when they always disclaimed the right to teach it at all,
and considered it a crime for any denomination to ask for it ? This is what
I call substitution — ^invention — a course unworthy of Mr. Ketchum, — of his
profession, and of that society of which he was the organ.
I am well aware that to a hasty reader Mr. Ketohum's speech will appear
very logical indeed. But I have at the same time to observe, that while he
reasons logically, by drawing correct inferences from Ids promises, he
has taken care previously to change the premises, and instead of taking
our principle as submitted by us, he gradually shifts it — ^preserving, how-
ever, enough to deceive a cursory reader-^until he substitutes one entirely
different, from which he reasons very logically, of course. Let us sup-
pose Mr. Ketchum a professor of law in some university — for I have no
doubt he could fill such a cliair, and adorn it too, if he would — and im-
agine him addressing a class of studentss H^ says, "Gentlemen, one of the
most important things in our profession is to know how to conduct an argu-
ment, wliicli you must always do with logical precision. And to eflFect this
you are to follow this excellent rule : — if your facts sustain your conclusions,
well; if not, you must find other facts that will!" (Laughter and loud
cheers.) " The principle of this rule I call the principle of substitution, and
an admirable principle it is, but you must be cautious how you use it, espe-
cially before a judge and jury. But if it is before a public, which reads fast
— for there is a great deal to be read — you will find it work very well.
Recollect then, gentlemen, this great principle — 'substitute ' in your reason-
ing!" (Loud laughter.)
In such a way we might imagine Mr. Ketchum addressing his students
And you will find that few reason illogically. Even the inmates of a Lunatic
Asylum reason very logically. One of them perhaps, imagines himself a
clock, he says, "stand off, don't shake me — I am obliged to keep time."
That is logical reasoning. The only mistake is that he "substitutes" a clock
for a living creature — and reasoning from this substitution he draws the con-
clusions admirably. So it is with Mr. Ketchum. (Laughter and cheers.)
We did not, I tell Mr. Ketchum, ask the Public School Society to teach
religion in any definite form. We never complained of their not teaching
it. We never did ask such an unreasonable thing from men who made it a
crime for religious societies to have any thing to do with the public money.
He then states another objection : — " that the books used in the schools
contain passages reflecting on the Catholic Church." That is true ; and he
says in the third place that we object that " the Protestant version of the
Bible is used, that the schools are opened by calling the children to order,
and reading a passage from that Bible." Not a word of that in our petition.
That is " substitution" again — removing the objections presented by us, and
substituting others, which might, as he supposed, lead to the denial of our
claims on the ground that we object unreasonably.
Mr. Ketchum takes up the objection, and in order to show how unreason-
able' that was, he submits the proposition of the Public School Society —
passing altogether over ours, which common justice required should have
also been presented, as it would have discovered on our part a similar dispo-
sition, and have entirely undeceived the Senators as to any alleged claim to
have religion taught in a definite form.
There was no official declaration guarding against the possibility that, next
year, another Board might not alter all these books to a worse state than
ever — ^and consequently their offer to expunge their books was altogether
nugatory. Mr. Ketchum says, however, " This portion of the report, as
216 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
will be seen, has reference to these offensive passages. New, every body
will say, that it is a fair offer— we will strike them out. But, gentlemen of
the conimittJe, I submit whether here, in this country, we must not in mat-
ters of conflicting opinions, give and take." "Well, I do not find the Public
School Society, although very good at "ia/iJJn^," at all disposed to "^ii'e"
any thing. (Laughter.)
" I have no doubt that I can find something in any public school book, of much
length, and containing much variety of matter, reflecting upon the Methodists— upon
the heated zeal, probably of John Wesley and his followers— reflecting upon the Epis-
copalians, the Baptists, and Presbyterians. Occasional sentences will flnd their way
into public discourses, which, if viewed critically, and regarded in a captious spirit,
rather reflect upon the doctrines of all those churches."
In this way he gets over these passages most insulting to us and our religion,
whfch I pointed out to those gentlemen after their having inculcated them
in the minds of the children for sixteen years past! "We have to add,
however, that in examining these books, we found no passages reflecting on
those denominations.
Now I will call your attention to Mr. Ketohum's views respecting conscience
and conscientious scruples. We supposed that when a man could not do a
thing in conscience, the reason was that he thought by doing it he would
offend God. This is what we supposed to be a conscientious difficulty ; and
therefore it was that we did not object — as he says, and as I shall have occa-
sion to treat of presently — to the Protestants reading their version of the
Bible; because believing it right, they could use it with a good comscience.
But we Catholics did not approve of the version, many other denominations
i!o not approve of it — the Baptists and Unitarians for instance, — and one
objection was that Mr. Ketchum and the Public School Socjety would force
nn us the reading of that version against which we had conscientious objec-
tions. We believe that to yield to that, would damage the faith which we
hold to be most pleasing to God. Suppose us to be in error, if you please;
but certainly the Public School Society have no right to rule that we are.
They are not infallible, and consequently should recognize our right of con-
science, as we recognize theirs.
But Mr. Ketchum has battled bravely against these principles, and think-
ing it would be better for us to agree to offend God, and coincide with
1 ho Public School Society, wishes to beat down these scruples. And now
would you have his idea of a conscientious scruple? Ho institutes a com-
parison in order to show how trifling such things are, and he says : —
" On the other hand, there are many passages fr'om the speeches of Mr. Webster,
which have found their way into school books ; and a democrat may say, I cannot go
.Mr. Webster ; my children shall not be taught to admire him. And thus, if we are
captious, we can flnd conscientious scruples enough." ■
So that Mr. Webster's writings are placed, as it were, on a parallel with
the word of God himself; — and a difficulty of which he is the subject is
spoken of in the same way as if it were a difficulty in reference to God !
\m\ what is Mr. Ketchum's conclusion ? That whilst he would trample on
our conscientious scruples about the Deity, to bow with great deference to
the scruples about Mr. Webster, and of this he goes on :—
" However, if it is bona fide a conscientious scruple, there is the end of it ; we cannot
reason with it. But, in the judgment of the Common Council, and as I think must be
the case in the judgment of every man, the difficulty is got over by the proposition
which has been madt."
, Well now jiist let liim extend a little of that indulgence to us in the case
in which our account to our Creator and eternal Judge is involved. But not
60. He next says :''The next complaint is, that we do not give religious edu-
SPEECHES IN CAEKOLL nALL. 217
cation enmigli." TiVliere did Mr. Ketchiim find that? Thit is "substitution"
airain. He has not found tliat in any tiling fi'om us. Ho pi-ooeeds :
"Tlie memorials, all of vvliicb are public — and the speeches and documents v\'hioh
have been employed, and which, if necessary, cau be furnished to the commitlee— all
go conclusively to demonstrate that, in the jndgment of those who spoke for the Roman
I, iitJiolic Church, we ought to teach religion in our public schools— not generally — not
vaguely— not the general truths of religion; but that .specific religious instruction
must be given. Kow, I hardly suppose that this deficiency can be made the subject of
conscientious objection."
r.ut that is a false issue. On none of th(;se points has he stated our objec-
tion. We never objected, as far as Catholic children were concerned, that they
did not teach religion. We complained of a system from which religion was
(according to them) excluded by law. But that on the contrary they did
attempt, surreptitiously, to introduce such teaching, in a form that we did not
recognize. What does ho say then ?
" The third and last complaint is, that our Catholic brethren can not cons;ent to have
this Llible read in the hearing of their children. Now, on every one of these points,
the Trustees have been disposed to go as far as they possibly could in the way of
accommodation; but they never yet consented to give up the use of the Bible to' the
extent to which it is used in the schools. I say the Trustees have never yet consented
to this surrender. But if they can have good authority for doing it, they will do it.
If this Legislature, by its own act, will direct that the Bible shall be excluded, I will
guarantee that it shall be excluded."
Now perhaps, one of the rarest talents of an orator, is that which enables
him to accommodate his discourse to the character of the audience whom he
addresses. But like all rare talents, it should be exercised with discretion.
That the learned gentleman possesses it, however, is proved by the fact, that
the very declarations made by him before the Senate are contradicted by his
statements before the Common Council, and vice versa. Before the Common
Council, in the presence of a number of the clergy, he eloquently denounced
the exclusion of the Bible from the schools. If a compromise depended on
this, he must say " No compromise." Before the Senate, however, he is all
ob.3equeoiL>^ness, " Gentlemen, if you give us authority to exclude the Bible, I
guarantee that it shall be so !"
I recollect the beautiful period with which the gentleman wound up his sen-
timent Ijeforc the Common Council, I remember him saying that '.' it would be
hard to part with that translated Bible — hard indeed, for it had been the con-
solation of many in death — the spring of hope in life —and wherever it had gone
there was liberty and there was freedom, and where it had not gone there was
darkness and there was despotism." But I must apologize for attempting to re-
peat, as I spoil the poetry of his eloquent language. At the time, however, I
thought what a beautiful piece of declamation for a Bible Society Meeting ; for,
on such occasions, owing to the enthusiasm — the sincere enthusiasm — of the
auditor.?, and the oftentimes artiflcial enthusiasm of the speakers, all history,
philosophy, and common sense, occasionally, are rendered quite superfluous.
The most beautiful phrases, resting on no basis but fancy, may be strung to-
gether, and will produce the deepest impression. But I doubt much when we
come to examine the sober reality of the matter whether the poetical beauties of
Mr. Ketchura's Action will not be seen vanishing into thin air. I doubt much,
indeed, whether the libert}', whose origin and progress history has recorded,
will be found to have sprung from "that translated Bible," in any sense, and
especially in the sense of Mr. Ketchum. I, of course, yield to no man in pro-
found veneration foi- the book of God, but there is a point of exaggeration which
does no credit, but injury to that Holy Book.
Let us look at these translations of the Bible. The first was Tyndall's, then
Coverdalo's, and then the Bishop's Bible. These remained till the time of
James the First, and during all that time — a period of about a century — if
218 AKCHBISnOP HUGHES.
ever there was a period of degrading and slavish submission to tyrannical
power in England, it was then beyond all comparison. At the close of this
period a new translation was made and dedicated to the king. It was dis-
covered that the " only rule of Faith and Practice " during all this time was
full of errors and corruption. Every one knows that James was one of the
poorest scions of the poor race from whom he was descended. Yet in their
dedication, the translators appointed to amend the rule of faith by a new trans-
lation, call him the " Sun in his strength," and that from his many and extra-
ordinary graces, he might be called the " wonder of the wokld ! " Now,
during the succeeding sixty or eighty years what were the doctrines of liberty
in England ? It was then that the schoolmen of Oxford and Cambridge taught
from ''that translated Bible" the dogma of " NON-nESISTA^'«E to the eoyal
authority" — that "passive obedience" was the duty of subjects — that no
crime nor possible tyranny of the prince could authorize a subject to rebel.
How could Mr. Ketchum forget all that?
Let us examine the facts of the case and ascertain how correct Mr. Ketchum
was when he said that liberty had always followed the progress of that trans-
lated Bible. You will find that from the period of the Reformation down to
the Revolution, England was sunk to the lowest degree of slavish submission ,
to tyrannical authority. The spirit of old Enghsh freedom had disappeared at
the Reformation, and it was only at the Revolution that, like a ship recovering
its equilibrium after having been long capsized by the storm, that old spirit
righted itself again. But do I speak poetry like Mr. Ketchum ? let me appeal
to facts (loud. cheers.)
We find the fundamental principles of liberty as well understood by our
Catholic ancestors, centuries before the Reformation, as they are at the
present day. They well understood the principle, that all civil authority
is derived from the people, and that those elected to exercise it, are res-
ponsible to those from whom they derive their power.
" By one of the laws of Edward the Confessor, conQrmed by the Conqueror, the duties
of the Wmg are defined ; and it is provided that, unless he should properly discharge
them, he should not even be allowed the name of king as a title of courtesy, and this
on the authority of a pope. The coronation of Henry I. was based on as regular a con-
tract as ever yet took place in market-overt. By the coronation oaths of the several
monarchs between him and John a similar contract was implied. By Magna Charta,
and its articles for keeping the peace between the king and the kingdom, this implied
contract was reduced to writing, and 'signed, sealed, and delivered by the parties
thereto.' In the reign of Henry lit. Bracton, one of his judges, tells us, that since the
king ' is God's minister and deputy, he can do nothing else on earth, but that only
which he can do of right Therefore, while he does justice he is the deputy
of the Elei-nal King; but the minister of the devil when he turns to injustice. For he
is called king from governing well, and not from reigning ; because he is king while he
reigns well, but a tyrant when he violently oppresses the people entrusted to him. .
. . . Let the king, therefore, allow to the law what the law allows to him — dominion
and power — for he is not a king with whom his will, and not the law, rules." — Dublin
Ji&view.
There was the language of a judge in the times before either the Refor-
mation or James' translation of the Bible were dreamed of! I pass to ano-
ther historical event — the crowning of John, on which occasion Hubert,
the Archbishop of Canterbury, fearing that the monarch, from supposing
that his royal blood alone entitled him to receive the kingly ofBce, should
throw the kingdom into confusion, reminded him that no one had such a
right to succeed another in the government unless chosen by the people.
" That no one had a right by any precedent reason to succeed another in the sover-
eignty, unless he were unanimously chosen by the entire kingdom, and pre-elected
according to the eminency of his morals, after the example of haul, the first anointed
king whom God had set over his people, though not a king's son, or sprung of a roval
raie, that thus he who excelled all in ability, should presid'e over all Avith power and
ttuihority. But if any of a deceased king's family excelled the rest of the nation, to hia
SPEECHES IN CARROLL HALL. 219
election they should more readily assent. For these reasons they had chosim Connt
John, the brother of their deceased king, on account as well of his merits as of his
royal blood. To this declaration John and the Assembly assented."
I wonder whether an Archbishop of Canterbury, now, with this translat-
ed Bible in his hand, would dare to utter such language in the presenee of
the monarch when he was about to officiate at a coronation ! Let us now
turn to what occurred after this translation of the Bible. At the execution
of the Earl of Monmouth, there were a number of Protestant divines whc
exhorted him to die like a " good Christian," and the great point on which
they insisted was that the subject was bound to obey the prince with
" passive obedience." But the noble Earl, in whose breast there still burn-
ed something of the principles of the olden times of England, would not
agree to that dogma, and then the divines under the influence of this trans-
lated Bible refused to pray for him. Their last words were, " Then, my
lord, we can only recommend you to the mercy of God, but we cannot pray
with that cheerfulness and encouragement as we should if you had made
a particular acknowledgment."
The same doctrine was prevalent at the time of Tillotson, and he speaks
of it not only as his own opinion, but as that of those for whom Mr. Ketoh-
um claims the honor of being considered the apostles of English liberty ! I
quote from the Dublin Review :
" Amons; those who importuned the unfortunate Lord Russell to make a similar ac-
knowledgment was Tillotston, who, by letter, told him that this doctrine of non-resist-
ance ' was the declared doctrine of all Protestant Churches, though some particular
persons had thought otherwise,' and expressed his concern 'that you do not leave the
world in a delusion and false hope to the hinderance of your eternal happiness," by
doubting the saving article of faith. Within the same period. Bishop Sanderson deliv-
ered the doctrine in the following clear and explicit language. He declares that, ' to
blaspheme the holy name of God, to sacrifice to idols,' &o., &o., ' to take up arms
against a lawful sovereign, none of these, and sundry other things of the like nature,
being all of them simple and de toto genere, unlawful, may be done on any color or
pretence whatsoever, the express command of God only excepted, as in the case of
Abraham sacrificing his son, not for the avoiding of scandal, not at the instance of any
friend, or command of any power on earth — not for the maintenance of the lives and
liberties of ourselves or others, nor for the defence of religion, nor for the preservation
of the Church and State ; no, nor yet, if that could be imagined possible, for the salva-
tion of a soul, no — not for the redemption of the whole world.' This was considered a
very orthodox eS'usion." — Dublin, BevUw.
An article of faith that you dare not under any circumstances resist the
kingly power.
Compare, then, the language of Protestant divines having this translated
Bible before them, with that of Catholic divines at a former period, and see
the ground which Mr. Ketchum has found in England for his poetical as-
sertion. But, perhaps, if we turn our attention to the Protestant govern ■
ment of Europe, we may find his dreani realized. Perhaps he may find his
dream realized in Prussia ? In th^t country there are two principal com-
munions of Protestants, the Lutheran and the Calvinist. Now, the king
calls his ofiioe'rs together, and tells them to draw up a liturgy : decrees that
both will, and shall, and must believe or practice this liturgy ? (Laughter
and cheers.) Or he may go to Sweden, or to Norway, or Denmark, and
the dark despotism of the North, perchance there he may find that liberty,
of which he speaks, progressing with this translation. What kind of free-
dom, let me ask Mr. Ketchum, followed this "translated Bible" to Ireland
—that everlasting monument to Catholic fidelity and Protestant shame !
(Tremendous applause.)
But to come to this country — ^perhaps it was in New England among the
Puritans, that Mr. Ketchum's dream was realized — ask the Quaker !
(Laughter.), Perhaps it was in Virginia — ask the Presbyterian I "Where was
220 AECHBISriOP HUGHES,
it? Let me tell you. It was in Maryland, among the Catholics. Theij
Ikiiew enough of the rights of conseienoe to raise the fiist standard of re-
ligious liberty that ever floated on the breeze in America. (Clieers.) You
may ho told that Roger Williams and his associates in Rhode Island de-
clared equal rights. Not at all — he excluded Roman Catholics from exer-
cising the elective franchise. But the Catholics did not exclude liira.
They may refer to Pennsylvania — the reference is equally untbrtunate, for
Penn wrote from England remonstrating with the Governor, Logan, I be^
Have, for permitting the scandal of Catholic worship in Philadelphia.
Turn, noV, look at the constellation of Catholic Republics, before Prot-
estantism was dreamed of as a future contingency. Look at Venice,
Genoa, Florence, and that little republic — not larger than a pin's head on
the map — San Marino — which has preserved its independence for such a
long course of centuries, lest the science of repubKcanis'm should be lost to
the world ! Look at Poland — when the Protestants were persecuting one
another to the death in Germany, Poland opened her gates to the refugees
and made them equal with her own subjects, and in the Diet of Poland, at
which the law was passed, there were eight Catholic Bishops, and they
must have sanctioned the law,for the liberalism veto gave each the power to
prevent it. I challenge Mr. Ketchum to point out, in the whole history of
the globe, one instance of similar liberality on the part of' Protestants to-
wards Catholics.
Now, what becomes of that beautiful declaration of Mr. Ketchum, that
wherever that translation had gone liberty followed? I know, indeed,
that in this country we all enjoy equal civil rights, but I know also that it
was not Protestant liberality that secured them. They grew out of necessity,
and in the declaration of them there is no difference made between one religion
and another. Catholics contended as valiantly as any other, in the first ranks
of the contest for liberty. And I fervently hope that it is too late in the day
for any one to pretend that Catholics have been so blinded by their religion as
to be unable to know what is liberty and what is not. (Cheers.)
Be it understood, then, that not one of the objections which Mr. Ketchum
has put into our mouths respecting the Bible, was ever presented to the Senate
by us.
Mr. Ketchum having thus disposed of our pretended objections, goes on
to speak of the Secretary's Report.
" Thej will be satisfied with it, it will c;ive them what thev ask. Now, lot us sea
bow ? There is no proposition contained in this report that religious societies, as such,
shall participate in this fund — none."
Then, Sir, I ask what is your objection ? In New York before the Com-
mon Council all your opposition was directed against " religious societies."
Mr. Spencer has removed every ground for that, and I therefore ask what is
your object ? Your object is to preserve the Public School Society in the
monopoly, not only of the funds contributed by the citizens for the. support
of education, but also of the children. He says :
" The trustees of districts shall indicate what religion shall be taught in those schools;
that is to say, that you shall hav% small masses; that these small masses shall elect
their trustees; and as the majority of the people in those small masses hiay direct, so
shall be the character of the religious instruction imparted."
Mr. Spencer wishes to take from the Society that very feature which is
objected to — that is to say, he wishes that religion shall neither be exclud-
ed nor enforced hy law. And yet, Mr. Ketchum, by his old principle of
substitution, makes out quite a different proposition from the Report, and
infers that the Trustees shall have the power to prescribe what religioq
shall be taught. I do not sse that in the Rej>ort at all. On the contrary,
.Am
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 221
the Secretary leaves parents at liberty to act on that subject as they see
proper. Mr. Ketchuni supposes a case to illustrate his view of tlie matter.
which I must say does not do Mm much credit. He says :
" But when a school is formed in the sixth ward of the city of New York, in which
ward (for the sake of the argument we will assume) tlie Roman Catholics have a ma-
jority in the district; they choose their trustees, and these trustees iudicate that a
specific form of religion, to wit, the Roman Catholic, shall be taught in that school —
that mass shall be said there, and that the children shall cross themselves with holy
water in the school, having the right to do so according to this report, the Catholics beinj;;
in a majority there. Then, and not till then, can these Roman Catholics conscientiously
send their children to school — that is to say, their objections lo this system are to be
overcome by having a school to which they conscientiously send their children ; and
that school must be oue in which religion is to be taught according to their particular
views."
That is drawing an inference without the facts, for we never said so, nor
ever furnished Mm authority to say so, and although Mr. Ketchum has the
authority of the Public School Society to speak, yet that does not enable
him, when he states what is not the fact, to make it true. But I wish to
know why he brought up that picture at all — why the sixth ward should
have peculiar charms in his imagination, or why he should have introduced
all that about the children crossing themselves with holy water ? And
pray is it for Mr. Ketchum to find fault with what he supposes to be reli-
gious error, and for which he is not at all accountable ? He has not shown,
nor lias any man shown that such consequences would follow — it is impos-
sible that the Trustees could act so ridiculously as to permit such a thing
— it was incredible that they, being responsible to the oflScers appointed by
the State, and under the eye of such vigilant gentlemen as Mr. Ketchum
and the Public School Society, could permit Mass to be celebrated in the
schools ? Tet such is the picture presented by Mr. Ketchum, quite in ac-
cordance with his old course, and in order to excite popular prejudices, for
which this speech seems to have been so studiously prepared. Por he well
knew that amongst a large portion of the Protestants there is a vast
amount of traditional prejudice against Catholics, which has, from being
repeated incessantly and seldom contradicted, become iixed, occupying the
place of truth and knowledge. Their case reminds me of what is related
of BaroQ Munchausen. It is said that when this celebrated traveler was
old he had a kind oi consciousness that there was some former period of his
life when he knew that all his stories were untrue, but he had repeated
them so often that now he actually believed them to be true ! (Loud laugh--
ter and cheers.)
It is to such persons as are under the influence of these prejudices and
bigotries that Mr. Ketchum addresses his speech, and if he utter the sentiments
of the Public School Society, how, I ask, can we confide to their hands the
training of the tender minds of our children.
But one of the most remarkable things in this speech is, that after having
beaten off in succession the different religious denominations, because, as he
said, they would teach religion — having, in fact, played one sect against the
other — ^Mr. Ketchtim turns round and affirms that the Society itself does teach
religion. He says :
"No, sir. I afHim that the religion taught in the public schools is precisely that
quantity of religion which we have a right to teach ; it would be inconsistent with pub-
lic sentiment to teach less ; it would be illegal to teach more."
The " exact quantity ! " Apothecary's weight! (Great laughter.) Nothing
about the quality except that Mr. Ketchum having made it an objection that
we wished religion in a definite form, he will give it in an indefinite form — a
fine religion — but at all events there is to be the " legal quantity." "Well, now
let us see something about the quality of this religion, and I wish to consider
222 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
the subject seriously. A-nd here let me refer to a beautiful sentiment expressed
by the Secretary in his report— He says that religion and literature have be
come so blended, that the separation of the one from the other is impossible.
A more true or appropriate declaration could not proceed from the lips of any
man wishing the welfare of his country and his kind! (Cheers.)
Now, whenever we made objections to that society for pretending that re-
ligious subjects were excluded by law, it was on these grounds. We said, we
refer you to the experience of public men — to that of the most celebrated states
men in Europe, even to the infidels of France— who have uniformly declared
that society cannot exist except on the basis of religion. All of them, whether
believing in religion or not, have admitted the necessity of having some kind
of religion as the basis of the social edifice. But these gentlemen, in all their
debates, have contended that the education to be given should be "purely civil
and secular." That is their official language. And now for the first time Mr.
Ketchura before the Senate, declares that the society does teach religion, and
exactly the proper quantity ! (Cheers.) Let me now call your attention to a
passage in one of their reading books, in order that we may see a specimen of
this religion. I will now make a few comments on the passage, but I do con-
ceive that there are persons of all those denominations who recognize the doc-
tripe of the Trinity, who could not be induced to have the minds of their
children inoculated with such sentitnents as it contains. Referring to our
blessed Redeemer one of the school-books says :
" His answers to the many insidious questions that were put to him, showed uncom-
mon quickness of conception, soundness of judgment and presence of mind; completely
baffled all the artifices and malice of his enemies; and enabled him to elude all the
snares that were laid for him."
Are these the ideas of the divine attributes of the Redeemer which the
Christian portion of the community wish impressed on the minds of their
children ? That such have been the sentiments taught by the society for
the last sixteen years, they ctmnot deny. And they may account for it as
they please, but it has attracted the attention of many, that for the last six-
teen years the progress of that young and daring blasphemy that trifles with
all that is sacred has increased tenfold in this city. How do I account for
it ? In two ways — first, because a large portion of the young are debarred
from the benefits of education, and, on the other hand, there is the attempt
which has been made to divorce religion from literature. When such causes
exist you need not be surprised to find that infidelity thickens its ranks
and raises on every side its bold and impious front.
I have presented you with a specimen of the quality of that religion which
Mr. Ketohnm says is dealt out with exact and legal measure.
Mr. Ketchum contends that it is a religion of a decided character that we
want. And pray what are we to understand by religion that is not decided?
A religion which is vague — a general religion? What is the meaning of
these terms? I desire to have a definition of them. If there is to be estab-
lished by law a Public School Society-Religion, I should like to have its con-
fession of faith, and be informed of the number of articles, and the nature
of the doctrines contained in them. But it seems to me that Mr. Ketchum
and this Public Scliool Society resemble a body of men who are opposed to
all physicians because they understand medicine, and who, although them-
selves opposed to all practice of medicine, are yet disposed to administer to
the patients of the regular practitioners. And the comparison holds good —
foi-, after all, children are born with a natural moral disease — want of knowl-
edge, and evil propensities — and education and religion are the remedial
agent.? to counteract these evil tendencies and remove the natural infirmity.
Then wo have the practitioners, as they may be termed, coming to see the
patient, the wliole community supplying the medicine-ohest ; and we have
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 223
these men surroundicg this chest and exclq,iming to the physicians, "Clear
off! you are a Thomsouian, and you are a Broussaist, you are a Homojopatliic,
and you are a regular practitioner, and you wish to prescribe remedies of a
decided and definite character, wliich is contrary to "a great principle."
And having thus banished all the physicians they turn doctors themselves
and mix up their drugs into what they call a "genei'al medicine," of whicii
they administer what they call the legal quantity. (Laughter and cheers.)
But the gentlemen forget that neither the patient nor the medicine are theirs.
Those who furnish the patient and supply the medicine-chest should have a
voice in the selection of the doctors.
What do the gentlemen really intend? They object to religious societies,
but after they had got them pushed out of the house, they begin to teach
religion themselves! Mr. Ketohum acknowledges that He an'd Mr. Sedg-
wick, his associate, however, do not appear to have studied theology in the
same school. One says that religion isi^the basis of all morality, the other
that morality is the basis of religion. And, after all, do men agree any more
in their views of morality than religion? Certainly not. And yet you must
give to the children — especially those of that class attending these schools,
for it should be bofne in mind that they, for the most part, do not enjoy tlie
opportunity of parental or pastoral instruction — some supply of religions
education. Tliey are the offspring of parents, who unfortunately cannot
sujjply that deficiency ; and if they are brought up .in this way with a kind
of contempt for religion — or with the most vague idea of it, the most lament-
able results must necessarily follow.
, I now come to another point, the non-attendance of the children at the
schools. Whilst our humble school-rooms are crowded to excess, the Society
have been obliged to give $1,000 a year for recruiting for children. In Grand
street they have erected a splendid building, almost sufficient to accommo-
date the Senate of the State, and besides all that, we find they are able to
lavisli public money in payment of agents to collect children. Mr. Seton,
who has been a faithful agent of the Society, made that fact known, and
stated that by this means 800 children were collected. And to wliom was
this money given? To tract distributors — a very good occupation theirs I
liave no doubt; but at the same time that was rather a singular appropria-
tion by men so extremely scrupulous lest any portion of the public money
should go to the support of any sect. But I suppose that was on the prin-
ciple of what Mr. Ketchum calls ," giving and taking" — that is you give a
tract and take a child. (Laughter and cheers.)
Then we have quite an effort on the part of Mr. Ketchum to prove that
the trustees discharge their onerous duties much better than ofiicers elected
by the people. I will quote his remarks on that point : " This Public
School Society receives its daily sustenance from the representatives of the
people — and the moment that sustenance is withdrawn, it dies, — it cannot
carrj' on its operations for a day."
A, most beautiful subversion of the actual order! For so far from the
Common Council patronizing the Society, it is the Society that patronizes
f he Common Council — taking them into partnership the moment they are
elected, and so far from being dependent on the Council, as was well re-
marked by a greater authority than I am on this subject, the Council were
dependent on the Society. The schools belong to the Society, just as much
IS the Harlem Bridge does to the Company who built it. What remedy is
there then ? The Society, self-constituted, a close corporation, takes into
partnersliip the Common Council, which then becomes part and parcel —
bone of the bone, and fiesh of the flesh — of the Society, and if any differ-
ence arises between the citizens and the Society, a committee of that very
Society adjudicates in the cause ! Thus we have found that the Common
224 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Council, after having denied our claim, and oven -wlion about to retire and
fjive place to their successors, followed us to Albany, and their last act —
like that of the retreating Parthian who flung his dart behind him — was
to lay their remonstrance on the table of the tribunal to which we had
appealed.
Mr. Ketchum says : " Here are agents of the people — men who, having a
desire to serve mankind, associate together; they offer to take the superin-
tendence of particular works, they offer themselves to the public as agents
to carry out certain benevolent purposes ; and, instead of paying men for
the labor, they volunteer to do it for you, ' without money and without
price,' under your directions — to do it as your servants — and to give an
account to you and an account to the Legislature. Voluntary public ser-
vice is always more efficient than labor done by servants chosen in any
other way."
So that because they serve gratuitously, they discharge their duties
much better than if elected by the people ! Well, let us improve upon the
hint. Perhaps some of them may be kind enough to discharge the more
important fimctions of the government for nothing ! But if volunteers be
more efficient than officers chosen by the votes of the people, let us abol-
ish the farce of elections altogether. Not satisfied "with this, Mr. Ketchum
also would seem to contend, that the volunteers are not to be held respon-
sible !
To establish his views on this point, Mr. Ketchum refers to charitable
and benevolent institutions. But where is the justice of the comparison ?
The sick are incompetent to secure their own protection and recovery.
The inmates of houses of refuge, on which Mr. Ketchum has a -beautiful
apostrophe, referring to his own share in the erection of that one estab-
lished in this city, are likewise unable to take care of themselves. And
here let me say, in all sincerity, to Mr. Ketchum, that if he and the Public
School Society determine to perpetuate their system, if they continue to
exclude religion from education, and at the same time to deprive four-
fifths of the children, as now, of any education at all — then he had better
stretch his lines, and lay the foundation of houses of refuge, as the appro-
priate supplement to the system. Neither does the comparison hold, as I
have before shown, in reference to lunatic asylums, &c.
Then Mr. Ketchum goes on to illustrate further, and says : " But it is
said, and said too in the report of the Secretary, that he proposes to retain
these Public Schools. How retain them ? One of the features of the' pro-
posed new law is, that all school moneys shall be paid to the teachers.
Under such a law we cannot live a day — not a day."
What an acknowledgment is thatl That a law which would make
education free— giving equal rights to all— would be the death-warrant
of the Public School Society. There is another point on which Mr.
Ketchum does not now dwell so emphatically. He says, that there were
a large number of tax-payers who, wonderful to relate, asked for the
privilege of being taxed, asked for that privilege, for the purpose of
supplying the Public School Society with money to carry out their benev-
olent purposes.
Mr. Ketchum seems to consider that at that time there was a kind of
covenant made between the petitioners to be taxed, and the State authori-
ties, that when they petitioned and were taxed, the authorities of the State
bound themselves to keep up the system in perpetuum. But did these per-
sons ask to be taxed, exclusively, out of their own pockets, or did they ask
for a system of taxation which should reach all the tax-paying citizens of
New York. There is a fallacy in Mr. Ketchum's argument'here. He sup-
poses that because these persona are large property holders, that they are
SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 225
thimfoTe,piw excellence, the payers of taxes. He forgets that it is a fact well
understood in the science of political economy, that the consumer is, after
all, the tax-payer— that it is the tenants occupying the pi'operty of those
rich men, and returning them their large rents, who are actually the tax-
payers. And what peculiar merit, then, can Mr. Ketchum claim for these
owners of property, and petitioners to have all the rest of the citizens taxed
as well as themselves? But he insists that there was an agreement, a
co\-enant entered into between them and the State authorities, and if you
interfere with its provisions, you must release these tax-payers from their
obligations as such. With all my heart— I have no objection ! All wo
want is, that there should be no unjust interference — no exclusive system — '
no extraneous authority interposed between the tax-payer and the purpose
for which the tax is collected. But the fact that others besides these pe-
titioners are equally involved in the burthen, demolishes this argument of
Mr. Ketchum.
In his conclusion, the learned gentleman insists, that unless the Society
reniain as it is, it cannot exist. And then he goes on further, for it would
be impossible for him to close his-speech without again reminding the Sen-
ate that we are Roman Catholics.
He says: "The people in New York understand the subject, and the
Roman Catholics cannot say that they will not be heard as well there as
here. Why not leave the matter to us, the people of the city of New
York?" - .
Thus, Mr. Ketchum, after having first endeavored to impress the minds
of the Senate that we had had all imaginable fair-play, that other denom-
inations had made applications similar to ours, which is not the fact, that
our jjetition had uniformly been denied in the several boards representing
the people of New York ; whereas he knew that on this question, the peo-
ple of New York were never represented by the Common Council; he goes
on to say, at last, " Why not leave the matter to us — the people of the city
of New York ?" I trust not, if a committee of the Public School Society,
called the Cgmmon Council, are to be at once -parties and judges, I hope
that the question will not be referred back; although, for Mr. Ketchum's
satisfaction, I may state, that if it were so referred, the Common Council
would not, I will venture to say, now decide upon it by such a vote as they
did before ; when one man alone had the courage, whether he was right orr
wrong, to say nay, when all said yes ! (Loud and long-continued cheering,),
In consequence of that vote, as they have since taken care to tell us, thi&.
gentleman lost his election, but, what is of infinitely more importance, ha-
preserved his honor. (Renewed applause.) Were the matter now before the
Common Council, they would see a thousand-and-one reasons for hesitatioo ,
before deciding as before. For when public men see that any measure is-
likely, to be popular, they can find abundant reasons for taking a favorable
view of the question. I will refer Mr. Ketchum to a sign from whieh hi©
may learn what he pleases. Since the Common Council, that clmfied our -
claims, went out of office, their successors have had the matter b«fdre them,
and when in the Board of Assistants it was proposed to pass a/ resolution
requesting the! Legislature to defer the consideration of the question, the
motion was negatived by a tie vote.
Still Mr. Ketchum will have the end of this speech something like the
end of the last. Then he said this was a most distressing topic to the
gentlemen of the Public School Society — th%t they were men- of peace —
that I do" not controvert, but certainly I must say that i» the course of
this contest they appear to have exhibited a spirit contrary to. their natures !
— but so peaceful were they, Mr.. Ketchum said, that if any longer annoyed
they would throw up their office and retire 1 (Cheers anxyaughter.) But,
15
22G AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
after all, tliey could send their agents to Albany to oppose us there— tlio
r)ne, Dr. Rockwell, to disseminate a burlesque on our faith from Tristram
Shandy — the other, Mr. Ketchum, to plead as zealously, but I think not as
successfully, as ever against the recognition of our claims.
Mr. Ketchum says : " Now the contest is renewed, and' the trustees
engage in it with extreme reluctance ; they have no personal interests to
advance, and they are very unwilling to be put in hostile array against
any Of their fellow-citizens."
Mr. Chairman, the lateness of the hour admonishes me that I have tres-
passed too much upon your patience ; I have but one observation toinake
in conclusion. These gentlemen have spoken much and laid great emphasis
on the importance of morality, but as I have already remarked, morality is
not always judged of by the same criterion. Let me illustrate this. Accord-
ing to the morality which my religion teaches, if I rob a man, or injure him
in his property, and desire to be reconciled to God, I mxist first, of all, if it
be in my power, make reparation to the man whom I have injured. Again,
if I should unfortunately rob my neighbor of his good name — of his repu-
tation— either by accident or through malice, before I can hope for recon-
ciliation with an pifended God, I must repair the injury and restore my
neighbor's good name. If I belie him I must acknowledge the lie as
publicly as it was uttered — tliat is Catholic morality.
Well, now, these gentlemen hdve belied us — they have put forward and
circulated a document which existed only in the imagination of Sterne — a foul
document — and represented it as a part of our creed. I do not say that they
directly required this to be done; but their Agent did it, and he cannot deny
it. I wonder now, then, if they will have such a sense of morality as will
impel them to endeavor to repair the injury thus done to our reputation, by any
official declaration that that is a spurious document ? I wonder if the consci-
entious morality that presides over the " Journal of Commerce " will prompt its
editors to such a course f If it do not, then it is a morality different from ours.
I apprehend that no such reparation will be offered for the injury we have
sustained by the everlasting harangue of a,buse and vituperation that has been
poured out against us for these few years past. Have we not been assailed
with a foul and infamous fiction in the pages of a work called "Maria Monk?"
and have its Reverend authors ever stood forward to do us justice and acknowl-
edge the untruth which, knowing it to be so, they published ? Have they ever
attempted to counteract that obscene poison which they disseminated, comjpt-
ing the morals of youth throughout every hamlet in the land ? Whilst de-
nouncing in their ecclesiastical assemblies the works of Byron and Bulwer, did
they include in their denunciation the filthy and enormous lie, published under
their auspices — the writings of "Mauia Monk?" What idea, then, must we
form of their morality and religion ? And, here, it would be unjust to omit
mentioning that many Protestants, not under the influence of blinded bigotry,
have done us justice on this point. In particular I refer to the conduct of one
distinguished Protestant writer, who cannot be accused of great partiality, for
us, but who exposed and refuted the authors and abettors of this filthy libel, to
which I have referred. I know that it would be incorrect and unjust to say
that thousands of otheirs, sincere Protestants, but high-minded, honorable men,
have not taken the same view of the subject. But I speak particularly of the
morality of the authors and publishers of these abominable slanders, and I "
regret that the Public School Society, by their recent proceedings, should have
allowed themselves to sink to^a kindred degradation !
[The Right Rev. Prelate here resumed his seat, amid thunders of appla.ise,
fWhich lasted several miniites.]
MR. ketciium's eejoixdek.
REVIEW OE MR. KETCHUM'S
REJOINDER,
so FAR AS HE HAS GONE, BY BISHOP HUGHES.
[Mr. Ketcluim having attempted a reply, through the columns of one of the<;ity
papers, to Bishop Hughes' great speech in Carroll Hall, on the evenings of June
16th, ITth and 21st, 1841, the following review of Mr. Ketchum's " rejoinder" ap-
peai'ed in the Freeman's Journal of August 1th, 1841.]
I DO not deem it necessary to wait for the conclusion of the re-
joinder, inasmuch as the American in which it is published, tells ug
that " every part is complete in itself." When Mr. Ketchum pub-
lished his speech before a Committee of the Senate, I announced
that I should review and refute it. The word refute is printed in
capitals by Mr. Ketchum, I know not for what purpose. If I had
any doubt as to the fulfillment of my promised refutation, the Re-
joinder, so far, at least, has completely removed it. Indeed I am at
loss to know what meaning the gentleman attaches to the word Re-
joinder, but in my judgment, the truest title he could have given to
his last production would have been, if he had called it, "A repeti-
tion OF WHAT I HAVE SAID BEFOKE PAKTLT IN THE SAME WOEDS,
AND PARTLY IN OTHER WORDS."
He seems to find fault with me for having SQen fit to review his
speech in a Public Assembly ; but I had explained the reason of
this. It was to save me the time and trouble of writing it down. I
knew his niany fallacies could be most easily exposed ; and yet I
h.id but little leisure for the work of their exposition. In fact, it is
only because he is the official organ of the Public School Society,
that I would undertake it at .all. Nor would this have been neces-
sary of either of the legal gentlemen who met him at Albany, had
been fortunate enough to have had his speech reported.
It seems, moreover, that the " laughter and cheers," introduced
by the reporter, have given offence to Mr. Ketchum. Now, to this
I have to reply that I requested the. chairman of the meeting to for-
bid every manifestation of feeling. This he did in my own hearing,
but it appears he was not strictly attended to in the matter, and the
reporter, as custom is, put down the "cheers" and "laughter" as
faithfully as anything that was said by me. I am not accountable
for this, neither do I think that Mr. Ketchum should acquit his own
speech of having contributed as much to produce laughter as any
other cause. At all events, I thought it a very innocent way of giv-
ing vent to the exuberance of indignation, which the course of the
228 AECHEISHOP hughes' EBVIEW
learned gentleman, and the society of which he is the official organ,
was calculated to excite. They compel the people to pay taxes for
the purposes of education, and then wish to compel them to receive
such kind of education as it may please a Close Coepoeation,
having absolute and irresponsible power over the money, over the
books, over the Teachers and over the children, to impart. For six-
teen years has that portion of this people represented by the meeting
at Carroll Hall, been deprived of the benefit of this taxation, and
that by the efforts of this society, in the indulgence of its grasping
ambition, and when they assemble in a peaceful and ordinary man-
ner, to think and speak of their wrongs and to seek a remedy, Mr.
Ketchum would grudge them even the privilege of laughing. _
Mr. Ketchum commenced his Rejoinder, so called, with a history
of his going to Albany, and of what occurred there. This requires
no remark from me. He tells us that the matter was " discussed
between himself and Messrs. McKeon and Hawkes in good temper,
and with that courtesy which well-bred gentlemen of the Bar uni-
formly extend to each other."
This is always to be supposed among " well-bred gentlemen,"
whether they belong to the Bar or not. It is a matter of course,
and hence my astonishment, when in the discussion before the Com-
mon Council, where I presented myself as a plain citizen, I found
that one gentleman of the Bar, and only one, brought up my mitre
and seemed incapable of making a speech until he had placed and re-
placed it several times. It is not for me to say whether this was
courteous, and besides, not being of the legal profession, perhaps I
had no right to expect that courtesy which Mr. Ketchum says the
members " uniformly extend to each other," and further saitL-not.
I shall now proceed to notice whatever appears to wear even the
semblance of argument in this rejoinder.
1. A large number of petitioners, deeply interested in the sub-
ject of education, and deeply suffering by the present system, appeal
for relief to the Legislature of the State. They are there met by
the Public School Society, and their petition is opposed by an official
remonstrance, and by an official living organ. In my review of the
remonstrance' I proved that the Public School Society had attempted
to mislead the judgment of the Senate by submitting in evidence
false statements. I proved further that their legal advocate in his
speech before a Committee of the Senate, had done the same. I did
not say that either knew the statements to be false, but my speech
established the fact of their being false in themselves and slanderous
in their falsehood.
When Mr. Ketchum's Rejoinder was announced, I thought he
would attempt a vindication of the society and of himself in refer-
ence to this unworthy course. I can see none, however, except that
he says with great nonchalance that it was a " natural desire of the
Trustees to preserve their schools," and that " to oppose the recom-
mendations of the Secretary, was therefore their duty." He then
asks, but how should this be done ? I answer, it bhould be done
OF MK. kbtchum's eejoindee. 229
by truth and argument on the merits of the question. It should noi
be done by special pleading — not by pushing aside the true facts of
the case and " substituting " others — not by charging extracts from
Tristam Shandy on the Petitioners as dogmas of their religious
faith — not by bearing false witness against their neighbors in any
way, otherwise it will appear as if they hold the end to justify the
means.
2d. Mr. Ketchuni then goes over the old ground about excluding
rehgious societies. This requires no answer, because it has been
disposed of in the speech to which this professes to be a rejoinder.
He says " the children in this State do not go to school to be in-
structed in religion." Certainly not. Then, I ask him why do the
Public School Society impart religious instruction. For we have
Mr. Ketohum's own authority for the fact that they do so impart it,
except that they impart it in an " indefinite form," and in the " legal
quantity." At one time they say it is to be left to the parents and
the pastors, as if the Public Schools were required to be atheisti-
cal; at another they exercise the children in singing hymns, saying
prayers and reading the Protestant version of the Scripture.
3. There is nothing so well shows the weakness of the cause ad-
vocated by Mr. Ketchum, as his directing his argument, such as it
is, to the prejudices of Protestants. For this purpose " Roman
Catholics" "Church Schools," "Roman Catholics" "Sectarian
Schools," " Church Schools," figure through the first paragraph of
his Rejoinder in great variety ; and with endless repetition. I am
not sorry to see this. It proves that he feels that he has no verdict
to expect from Reason and Justice ; and that, therefore, his reli-
ance must be on his efibrts to excite the religious hatred of one
class of citizens against another. If those feelings grew out of any
pretensions on our part, they would be excusable. But they do
not ; they cannot. We ask no privilege ; taxed, like our fellow citi-
zens of other creeds, for purposes of education, we have been de-
prived of all benefit. The schools supported in part by our money,
have been conducted in a manner of which infidels did not complain,
because the society professed to exclude religion, of which Protest-
ants did not complain, because, contrary xo their own professions,
they did teach religion, and that altogether Protestant as to quality,
and in what Mr. Ketchum calls the " legal quantity." In order to
be " legal " the legislature must have acted upon the question. I
would beg leave to ask Mr. Ketchum in what part of the Revised
Statutes the quantity has been specified and enacted. At all events,.
to require of those who have the misfortune to be neither infidel
nor Protestants, to send their children to schools thus constituted
would be a violation of the rights of conscience. And does Mr.
Ketchum think that even his Protestant countrymen will support
him in such an attempt. Does he think that the votaries of bigotry
are more numerous than the friends of the American Constitution,
which secures the religious as well as the civil rights of every man,
whether he be a Jew, or Christian, or a XJniversalist, or a Calvinist,
(30 ARCHBISHOP HUtiHES EEVIEW
a Catholic or Protestant. But -n'hile he contends that the Public
School Society teach the "legcal quantity " of religion, he defends
the same society on the ground that it leaves religion to the teaching
of the parents of the children and their ministers. Which of these
propositions shall we believe ? The one contradicts the other, and
the legal gentleman in contempt of all logic maintains both. His
harping on church schools, then, is a poor subterfuge ; in the only
sense in which it could be of service to his argument, the charge
that we wish to have "Church Schools," "Sectarian Schools,"
" Catholic Schools," is utterly false. "We say give us such schools
as we can frequent without violation to our conscience, or if yon
will not, give tis the quota of taxes which you collect from us, and
apply it yourselves for the purposes of educating the children whom
your system drives from the Public Schools. The evidence that our
demand extends thus far and no further was before Mr. Ketehum.
He has our written and official testimony on the subject before him,
and with that testimony, his insinuation that we want the benefit of
education money /or " Catholic Schools," as such, is moi'e than "sub-,
stitution," it is a sheer gratuitous invention against evidence of the
contrary.
These may seem strong expressions. But if the official organ of
the Public School Society, either impelled by his own prejudices
or with a view of acting on the prejudices of others, allows himself
to employ unfounded statements as the basis of his reasonings to de-
feat our just claims, then it becomes me to contradict them in lan-
guage which cannot be misunderstood. Whenever he ventures to
make a statement which is incorrect and injurious, I must be allowed
the privilege of contradicting it with proper emphasis.
4. In my speech I disputed Mr. Ketchum's right tO set forth
the decision of the Common Council, in the city of' New York, on
the School Question, as representing the will of their constituents.
I gave my reasons, 1st, because their connection with the Public
School Society never, to my knowledge, was made a consideration
at the ballot-box ; 2d, because in their decisions they were invari-
ably acted upon by the ii#uences which naturally belong to this
society ; 3d, because, as we shall prove by and by from Mr. Ketehum
himself, they were led to decide, in some instances, on the authority
of false statements. 4th, because it required an uncommon share of
moral courage to withstand all those influences. Now Islw Ketehum,
in his Rejoinder, passes silently over all these, and represents me as
saying that the decisions of the Board of Aldermen were not to be
regarded as important, inasmuch as the members had a direct per-
sonal inierest^ in sustaining the Public School Society. I said no such
thing. I said, and for the reasons already given, that as things
have been managed they could not expect to promote their interest
by opposing that society. He goes on to tell us that it was intended
that these officers of the city should " spy," if they thought proper,
into the most secret actions of the Board and of the Society. But
they never, he adds, availed themselves of the privilege. If then,
OF ME. KETCHUll'S EKJOINDBU. 231
B8 he elsewhere says, they are to be regarded as the representatives
of the people, in this connection they were sadly indifferent to the
trust confided to them by their constituents,
5. But the recorder, he tells us, is, ex-offi,cio, a member of the
Manhattan Bank, and it is asked whether on that account it is im-
proper for him to sit in judgment on the concerns of the bank ? If
he is the exclusive judge to decide in cases affecting the bank, and
if he is made a director through the contrivance of the Board of
' Directors, then the cases would be parallel, and then the party hav-
ing a suit with the bank would and should think it highly improper
that any director of the bank should be the judge on the case. I
believe, farther, that the people would not tolerate such a case, and
in constitution.al law Mr. Ketchum himself will be puzzled to find a
precedent. He tells us farther, that the Aldermen are members of
the Public School Society, not in their private, but in their " official
capacity." That is, as soon as they acquire the power to distribute
the school money, and to drive off some oppressed portion of the
community, they are taken into membership by the society ; and as
soon as they are unfortunate enough to lose that power, then the
society cuts the connection — the partnership is dissolved ! Really
this is a singular circumstance for Mr. Ketchum to bring forward.
He has just stated that these public officers, " never, in a single
instance," examined into the affa,irs of the society, and now he goes
on to tell us that " if they act, it is as a committee on the part of the
people," etc. No, most assuredly, the people never elected them for
that purpose. It is the work of the society, without consulting the
people, or rather in disregard of them.
6. In my review of Mr. Ketchum's speech, I stated in substance
that there was no violation of a sound principle, in allowing the dif-
ferent denominations to receive each a pro rata portion of the school
fund. The reason is, that the people whose contributions make up
that fund are no other than the different religious denominations.
I proved this by the exemption of churches from taxation. Now
Mr. Ketchum does not dispute the facts. But he turns aside from
the question of constitutional principle, and enters into a calculation
which is surely too small for a great mind like his.
He says that one denomination might be more prolific in children
and less in taxes than another. He' would infer, that unless the per
centum of taxes and the per centum of children be equal, and unless
the per centum of both be equal in one denomination to what it is
in another, there will be a violation of his " great principle." But
he seems to forget that the pro rata principle makes even this argu-
ment which, at best, is only fit for a microscope, good for nothing.
Besides, Mr. Ketchum seems to hold that the owner of property and
not the occupant is the tax payer. I believe the doctrines laid down
in standard works on Political Economy will support me in main-
taining the contrary proposition. It is the occupant, the consumer,
whether he be the owner in fee, or merely the tenant, who pays the
taxes in reality, although in the forms and technicalities of law it
232 ARCHBISHOP hughes' EEVIEW
would seem to be the owner alone. In this case, also, his reasoning
is deceptive and unfounded.
7. Mr. Ketchum reverses the circumstances of the case. He lays
the scene of illustration in Ireland — he invests the Green Isle with
all the attributes of freedom and equality which belong to this
country ; this is the land of oppression from which the Protestants
fly away, to seek a refuge in the Irish Republic. There are schools
established there in which the Catholic version of the Scripures is
used — books containing passages against Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc.,
are in the hands of the children. These " Protestant strangers "
remonstrate. They are told that the offensive passages will be
stricken out ; but as to the Catholic version of the Scriptures, they
must submit to have it imposed on their , children, otherwise they
are told, with polite circumlocution, to go about their business. Mr.
Ketchum justifies the supposed Catholic Republic of Ireland in
holding this language to his Protestant countrymen. I do not. I
would hold them to be cunning hypocritical tyrants over conscience,
if they acted in the manner which Mr. Ketchum approves and
justifies.
And Avhy ? First, Because they, had boasted that the stranger
had but to touch their soil, and that from that moment his conscience
should be free, and when, trusting to this, he lands on their shore,
they meet him with a cunningly devised system to entangle his con-
science and violate their chartered pledge. Second, Because they
tax those " Protestant strangers " for the support of a system, and
give them no return for their money. Third, Because in doing all
this they have the hypocrisy to pretend that thoy have the kindest
feelings for those " Protestant strangers," and have no wish but to
educate their children. Mr. Ketchum may justify them, but I
should be ashamed of their hypocritical duplicity. They would
bring a disgrace by it both on their religion and on their country.
But, after all, we do not admit that the Public School Society is
yet possessed oif' national power such as Mr. Ketchum supposes in
the Irish Republic. Neither do we admit that a decision of the
Common Council in favor of that society is equal to an act of sov-
ereign legislation, nor yet that Catholics are necessarily strangers,
nor yet that this is a Protestant Republic. In all these points his
reversion of circumstances fails ; although if his reversed picture
could have any value, it would be from these sly touches of false
coloring, which being false, I beg leave most respectfully to rub out.
That the great majority of the inhabitants of this country are not
Catholic, I admit ; but that it is a Protestant country, or a Catholic
counOry, or a Jewish country, or a Christen country in a sense that
would give any sect or combinaton of sects the right tb oppress any
other sect, I utterly deny. How then can llr. Ketchum call it a
Protestant country ? England is a Protestant country, because it
has a Protestant Church establishment. Does the gentleman mean
to insinuate the same of this country ? Again, in his picture, the
Catholics are strangers and foreigners. Many of them are, bat
OF MR. KETCHUM S KEJOINDEE. 233
there is no denomination, perhaps, whicli does not include foreign
ors, but let me tell Mr. Ketchum that the whole population of the
United States is derived from foreign origin. The country, too, was
discovered by Catholics ; they have taken their places among its
earhost settlements ; they have borne their part in its history, con-
tributed to its improvement, stood by its defence, fought and bled
for its independence. With what propriety, therefore, can Mr.
Ketchum assume that Catholics, as such, are strangers and foreign-
ers, more than any other denomination ? Among the neglected
children whom he labors to deprive of education, except on terms
such as it would become only the high Protestant tories of England,
or Ireland rather, to urge — there are those, I have no doubt, who
can trace as long a line of American ancestors as the gentleman
himself It is too much the habit of Mr. Ketchum, and of the
school to which he belongs, to regard Catholics and foreigners
as synonj-mous.
8. The next division of the Rejoinder is a labored effort to create
a conclusion favorable to the Public School Society from a crowded
and rather confused assemblage of facts, not real, but " substituted "
according to a great " principle." From what he says it may be
inferred, that if we were merely citizens, he would recognize our
claim to justice. Men of ordinary vision would see merely " Peti-
tioners " in those who sign or present or advocate a " Petition."
But Mr. Ketchum can see a little farther into the mill-stone. His
deeper penetration enables him to discover only " Roman Catholics,"
" Trustees," and " mitred gentlemen." These attributes or acci-
dents would seem, in his estimation, to extinguish our rights as
citizens. We deny his conclusion. If his appeal be to the law, we
challenge him to show any act abridging- us of our rights on such
grounds. If his appeal be, as it is, not to the law of the land, but
to sectarian Protestant prejudices, we thank him for so well showing
forth the spirit of the Society which he represents, whilst we taunt
him at the same time for such apostacy from the better spirit of the
American Constitution. At all events, in this connection we find
" Roman Catholics," " Church Schools," " Catholic Trustees," re-
peated in almost every line.
. One word on what Mr. Ketchum calls " Church Schools." When
■ our children were required to sacrifice their religious rights at the
doors of the Public Schools, a condition -me qva non of their admis-
sion, we tried to provide education for them at home. Teachers
were engaged, and they were instructed in the rudiments of educa-
tion, either in a building erected for the purpose, or more generally
in the basement stories of the churches. This was enough for Mr.
Ketchum. He props up nearly a column of his Rejoinder with repe-
titions of the words " Church Schools." Indeed, this, with the
other denominational epithets which he clusters and harps on, may
be regarded as the single string of his eloquence. But Pagauini
himself could not extract a greater variety of sounds from it.
Now let us see the difference between the Public Schools and
234 AEcriBisnop hughes' eeview .
ours ou this ground. "We have Mr. Ketchum's own authority for
the fact that they do teach reHgion in the Pubhc Schools, but in
" the legal quantity," whilst in ours it was taught according to a
constitutional measurement. Where is the difference ? The only
difference is, that theirs was taught at the expense of the public
funds, to which ^\e are contributors, whilst ours was taught at the
expense of our private purse.
9. He begins his next paragraph in this wise. " Let us suppose
that the Bishop receives the funds." . . He knows very well
that the Bishop does not want to receii o the funds. But in truth,
" supposition " is the safest region for him to dwell in — for when he
supposes, there is much less risk of his being refuted, than when he
asserts. There he may give eight hundred or a thousand dollars a
year to "priests," "brothers" and "sisters" of charity, just as his
fancy directs. But even if such a thing were to happen, it would
not be a greatei- violation of public right, than for the Public School
Society to give a thousand dollars a year of public money, to tract
distributors, for gathering children into their schools — which is not
a " supposition," but a fact.
He tells us that " the policy of the law is, that as we have one
Country and one Constitution, so we ought to be one people.
Union, and not separation, is the American Motto." Granted.
But is the policy of the Public School Society the platform on which
all this is to be accomplished ? Is it Union consistent with free-
dom ; or union that violates liberty, that the law has in view ? Is
it the poUcy of the law to deprive the citizen of his rights, if he
cannot " unite " with that society in the semi-infidel, semi-protestant
principles, by which their schools are governed? If this be the
kind of Union that ie sought (and no other would be of any use
for the object of the gentleman's argument) a more certain way of
destroying Union and producing separation could not well be de-
vised.
■ 10. Mr. Ketchum said before the Committee of the Senate, that
one of the grounds of objection to the Public School Society,
on our part, was " because they (the Public School Society) did not
give religious instruction in a definite form, and of a decided and
definite character.'''' This statement he made to Senators, and ■
reasoned from, as if it were a fact. And yet, as I proved in my
review, it was no fact at all, but a " substitution " of his own, instead
of the fact. Men who allege that the various creeds, represented
in their Board, " neutralize " each other, are about the last from
whom we should expect, or whom we should permit to give, " reli-
gious instruction in a definite form, and of a decided and definite
character." This was a legitimate subject for a "Rejoinder;" but
the gentleman meets it so submissively that I forbear to press it.
He says his statement was founded on a " distinction upon which
candid men will set little value." Little or much, I give him the
benefit of it, so long as he falls back from the statement which he
advanced before the Committee of the Senate of Albany.
OP Mil. ketchum's eejoistdek. 235
11. But I slioiild have supposed that Mr. Ketohum would have
been more cautious in his statements, from his having been mistaken
in regard to the one just pointed out. His next position,, however,
is as follows. He says: "thus far, if I have been able to excuse
my own intentions, it has been shown, in opposition to the argu-
ments of Bishop Hughes, that Church Schools are not Common
Schools ; that money raised by taxes imposed on the people cannot
be used to advance the doctrines of any rehgious denomination ;
and that religions societies, as such, cannot participate in the school
fund." Now I assure the gentleman that if these were his inten-
tions, he has not been able to execute them.
The three propositions which he has stated are truisms which I
hold as well as he does — and in opposition to which I am not con-
scious of having ever framed an argument. We have ever declared
against the misrepresentations which the gentleman and his col-
leagues multiplied around us, that " we would scorn to advance our
religion at the expense of any money but our own." I never used
any argument inconsistent with that declaration. We proposed to
place our schools under the management of the Public School
Society, and that the books to be used should contain nothing of
our dogmas, nothing against the creed or character of other denom-
inations. And as to participating in the school fund, it is as citizens
we would be considered, if Mr. Ketchum would allow us. But the
merit of his ingenuity consists in elevating, or depressing us, just
as you may please to call it, into a religious society, and then battling
us " as such," to use his own favorite phrase.
12. Mr. Ketchum next makes his" comments on the Secretary's
report, and passes on to an exhibition of the consequences that must
follow, in the expulsion and expurgation of school books, if the re-
commendations of the Secretary or the claim of the petitioners be
granted. He contends that the Bible and a great many English
classical vi'^orks must be banished from the schools, before the peti-
tioners, " the Roman Catholics," will be satisiied. According to
him, the district system will bring them no relief which they may
not find in the public schools.
Then follows an episode on the mutUation of an eloquent burst of
the Earl of Chatham, the hiatus being supplied by melancholy black
lines. When I first saw these lines, knowing that in Germany
music is a part of common school education, I thought Mr. Ketchum
was about to introduce the system here, and that these lines exhibited
the stave already prepared, on which it would be so easy to write
the notes, and mark off the bars. But on closer inspection, I found
it was only the mourning dress, for the- absence of a passage from
the noble P'arl's speech, about the " tyranny of Rome," " Popish
cruelties," and " inquisitorial practices." The editor of the American,
too, in a special article, mourns with Mr. Ketchum over the grave
of these eloquent phrases, of which the black lines may stand as the
silent epitaph ; and the good editor seems to say to his readers, "yo
who have tears to weep, prepare to shed them now." This is all
236 AncnBiSHOP HUGHES eeview
fair. But when he arraigns us for the cruelty that has been oxer
cised on these eloquent passages, we must be allowed the ordinary
privilege of pleading, and we say " not guilty."
Thelearned gentleman himself, and his colleagues of the Public
School Society, are our witnesses, that we never asked them to mu-
tilate books on our account. This havoc in English literature is en-
tirely the gratuitous work of the society itself; and when the
American makes " Romish priests " the object of its courtly repri-
mand, for this cause, it reminds one strongly of the situation of Gil
Bias, who was sure to get a flogging whenever his young master
*> missed the lesson.
But when I found that Mr. Ketchum has exhibited these black
lines, not for the purpose of having music set on them, but to show
what luxuries of literature have been sacrificed to the conscientious
scruples of his Roman Catholic fellow-citizens, as he sometimes
calls us, I thought of the terrible retributions with which patient
Truth often vindicates her own righteousness. Can this be the
same Mr. Ketchum who, in the spring of 1840, averred before the
Committee of the Board of Assistants, that there was nothing in
the books of the Public School Society which reflected injuriously
on the religion of Catholics ? This averment could not but have its
eflTect on their decision. That decision has been quoted, among
others, before the«Committee of the Senate, as evidence of what was
always the judgment of the public authorities of New York. And
now, in July, 1841, we have this same gentleman supplying the evi-
dence in black and white, with his own pen, that the statement
made by him and his colleagues in 1840 was not true, and therefore
was calculated to mislead the honest judgment of the Committee
and of the public, who naturally believed it. But so it is.
13. Mr. Ketchum next turns to the bill introduced in the Senate,
and to his great amazement he discovers that it wodd remove tho
grievances of which the petitioners complained ! Why, certainly.
What would be the use of a bankrupt law, if it did not bring relief
to the bankrupts ? He finds that the present system ought to be
preferred. And his reasoning on that point is curious. The rich
as well as the poor, in the present system, can have their children-
educated at the public expense. But in the proposed system, if
there should not be enough for both, the poor children who cannot
pay, are to be educated without expense, and if any are to be re-
quired to pay, it will be those who have the means to do so. The
education of the poor is one of the noblest works of philanthropy ;
one of the wisest measures of policy on the part especially of all
free governments. To make war on that principle, as Mr. Ketchum
does, IS not ni harmony with the spirit of the age— neither is it in
harmony with the indignation which he manifests at the idea of hav-
ing the " names of the , children of poverty put on the public
records." This phrase, with the help of capital letters, Mr. Ketchum
may regard as a grand popular hit. But does he forget that, in tho
present system, according to himself, the Public School Society are
OF ME. ketchum's eejoindee. 23^
" Almonees ?"_and if so, he has abeady decided that both rich and
poor, who receive education in their schools, are " pauj^ers." He
has placed all who receive the bounty of these " Alqioners " on a
level with the inmates of the Alms-house and Lunatic Asylum—
from which comparisons he has remorselessly borrowed ars^uments
for the guidance of honorable Senators. And this is the same gen-
tleman who is, or affects to be, indignant at the idea of a prospect
which secures the advantages of education to the poor man's chil-
dren on his declaring (no disgrace, -assuredly) that he is unable to
pay for it. He asks whether the author of this project " can have
an American heart !" If an American heart means a large, liberal,
republican heart, that loves justice and equality, then his hea.rt is
evidently far more " American " than that of his assailant.
"But," says Mr. Ketchum, "will not the Roman Catholics greatly
gain by this mode of distributing the funds ?" No. The commu-
nity will gain by it — the State will gain by it. The thousands and
thousands of poor children, now outcasts from education, will be
brought within her temple, and qualified to benefit their country in
after life, instead of being left in ignorance, a prey to vice, and a
scourge to society. Their being Catholics or Calvinists is a matter
of chance or choice, with which a right-minded American Legislator
can have nothing to do.
14. The third section of the Rejoinder, published in the American
of 24th July, is so much weaker than even the weakest portions
of his previous chapters, that it scarcely needs a reply. Indeed,
if I had, at any time, thought that Mr. Ketchum had looked beyond
the considerations which usually operate on the mind of an ad-
vocate professsionally engaged — if I had thought that, at any
time, he regarded this question on high public grounds, apart from
very strong religious prejudices which manifestly operate on his
feelings, I should have respected *his opposition ; and, considering
the symptoms of misgiving exhibited in his last section of the Re-
joinder, flattered myself with the hope that in the progress of the
discussion, new views and better light were breaking on his mind.
But the ground of that hope is destroyed by the course which he
has pursued from the commencement. Does he argue the question
on its merits, as a public man should ? Does he appeal to truth and
justice? or rather, does he not appeal to religious prejudice, and to
what, under the clouded light of that prejudice, he considers " ex-
pediency ?" Now I can tell him that this mode is not calculated to
procure any advantage to the State, or the community, or his own
reputation. States and communities, as well as individuals, should
remember that "honesty is the b^st policy," and he who recom-
mends any other policy will never be ranked among either the bene-
factors or ornaments of mankind.
15. Mr. Ketchum here introduces a retrospective synopsis of his
labors, at the termination of which he closes the circle of his argu-
ments for the last eighteen months, by telling us that " we are at
the very point from which we started, and the question is now as it
238 AECIIBISIIOP hughes' EEVIE.-W
was then : Shall the School Fund be applied to religious or sectarian
purposes ?" No, sir ; not in the sense in which you unfairly employ
these terms. You know that this is not the question. But the true
question is: Shall the Legislature of the State abandon to ignorance
the children of this metropolis, who cannot consent to be given over
to the Irrenponsible training, sectar'an or anti-sectarian, just as you
may please to call it, of the Public School Society ?
16. He next takes an extract from the Catholic Expositor to show
" farther," that the object of the Roman Catholics is to "establish
such schools for the advancement of their doctrines." The value
of this argument depends on whether it is set forth in the extract,
that public money is sought for that purpose. It is not so as-
serted, but Mr. Ketchum disingenuously conveys that idea to the
mind of his reader ; he says, " But not at the expense of the State,
my friends." Who said it was to be at the expense of the State ?
No one. Yet the learned gentleman suggests and insinuates this.
The insinuation, however, is utterly false. Again, he says the
sentiments of the extract are "admirable when said to excite volun-
tary contributions — but quite the contrary when said to get hold of
the Scliool Fund." But it is not said. Mr. Ketchum insinuates it
for effect. The observations were made to show the havoc which
ignorance and vice had produced araong Catholic children, under
the present system. I think the gentleman does himself great in-
justice in continuing to advocate a cause which requires of him to
have recourse to such expedients for its support. We want a sys-
tem of education in which the managers shall not claim or exercise
the dangerous power of perverting or destroying the religions sen-
timent which they do not happen to approve. You have no right
to require that Catholic children shall learn your Protestant prayers,
Protestant hymns, and Protestant Scriptures. Now Mr. Ketchum
maintains all this, the Society practice all this ; and yet he and they
contend most absurdly that there is nothing sectarian in all this !
If all were Protestants there would not be. But this is not the case.
But how does Mr. Ketchum justify this? By the will of the "ma-
jority." The same argument by which " Church and State " es-
tablishments are defended all over the world! He says that the
object of the Legislature in establishing Common Schools was to
brmg the children of the community together so as to blend and
harmonize the advocates of different religions, and political opin-
ions, into one great national family. He then refers to New Eng-
land as a happy illustration. New England has indeed much to be
proud of— but within her limits stands her monument of shame as
well as glory. From the base.of her proud pillar on Bunker Hill,
can be seen the black ruins, the burned convent. This does not say
much for the effect of her Common Schools. So far, at least, I think
the gentleman will agree that New England is not a fit model for the
imitation of New York.
n. He next introduces the discontent of a minority of the Legis-
lature at a decision of the majority on the School Questior., as a par-
or ME. KETCHUll's EEJOINDEE. 233
allel to the ease of the petitioners. He is at fault in the comparison.
The reason is that a minority, according to his text, are actuated by
a caprice. They say, "We do not approve of one or all these books."
But let him suppose the majority were to say, " Be it enacted that
the books of Common Schools shall contain lessons laudatory of
Catholic ages of Christianity, laudatory of men and principles of that
creed ; and further, that the Catholic Scriptures shall be publicly
read ;" would, or could not, the minority have a right to say : " We
disapprove of these books ?" Yet, according to Mr. Ketchum, they
should have to submit. I differ with him again — I tell him boldly —
and he will not deny it to support his sophistry — that there are
things which the majority have a right to decide, and to which the
minority are hound to submit ; but there are other things in which it
would be tyrannical for any majority to decide, and this is one of them
— the relation between a man's conscience and his God. Mr. Ketchum
employs arguments which are better suited to the defence of Church
establishments in Spain, Italy or England, than to the republican
doctrines of this hemisphere. He gives another illustration, which
is equally fallacious. The Society of Friends do not allow their
poor to go to the Alms-house, and yet the majority has decided that
this shall not exempt them from paying taxes to support that insti-
tution. The gentleman contends that they would have, on this ac-
count, the same right to claim back their portion of those taxes, for
the support of their poor, that the petitioners have to claim their
share of the School Fund. N"ow, if the same reasons existed, in the
one case as in the other, they would. Suppose, for instance, that in
the Alms-house the managers should require of all the inmates to
conform to what they might call the " legal quantity " of religion ;
and on the refusal to do so, turned the recusant out to die in the streets
—then the case would be parallel between them and the Public
School Society, and the indignanf community would soon hurl such
managers into private life. But the Public School Society under its
close-corporation privileges can play the part, in reference to the
minds of the children, and yet bid defiance to the community whose
money they expend as to them seemeth good.
18. Such are the foundations of Mr. Ketchum's arguments, and
when building on these, he comes to speak of what " he has shown
■conclusively, he thinks." It is ludicrous. He next tells us there are
hundreds of Catholic children attending these schools. I do not
believe it — and Mr. Ketchum does not profess to speak from his own
knowledge. But if there are, it is against their conscience. Do
Protestants approve of this ? I believe the better portion of them
would blush to have it supposed that their religion would sanction
such refined coercion of conscience, or required it.
He next adduces my testimony in favor of the system of Public
Schools. This would have been to other minds an evidence of my
candor and sincerity.
He then takes a passage of my speech out of its connection about
examinations in the schools, with a view, I suppose, to show me as
240 AECHBisHOP hughes' eeview
iuconsisteu t, and as finding fault with what I had first praised. I
was review ing that part of his speech in which he had taken it for
granted, that, for giving a good education, there were no schook iu
the world to be compared, or at least to excel, those of this society.
What was the proof? The examinations — visiting the schools.
This was the panacea. Whenever there was a doubt, his remedy
kad always been to say to Aldermen and Senators, " Gentlemen, come
and visit our schools." I did not deny the excellence of the schools,
but I denied that this proof (and he never gave any other) was suffi-
cient evidence. Why? Because "pet classes," "pet pupils," a
"little training," a "judicious wink of the teachers," etc., can pre-
pare enough for a satisfactory examination, even in an indifierent
school. Now it happens that this was a true picture to a greater
extent than I had supposed. The Jielpless dependency of the teach-
ers on the will of the trustees, without power of redress, or any
right of appeal, qualifies them for the fullest subserviency to the
wishes of their absolute employers. Their bread depends perhaps
on their ability to get up a good examination (i. e. an exhibition of
acquirements) whenever an important occasion makes 'it necessary.
This is no reproach, it is human nature. But just admire the ingen-
uity of Mr. Ketchum ! He extracts from this charge as if I accuse
the " trustees " of being the authors, instigators, or accomplices
in this proceeding, and calls it "slander." It is his own invention;
he may call it what he pleases. Again, I said the " external manage-
ment of the schools was excellent." Mr. Ketchum represents me
as saying in effect the " management outside of the school house !"
No, no! By "external," as opposed to "internal," I meant what re-
lates to the body as distinguished from what relates to the mind : hours
of attendance, decorum of behavior, respect to the teachers, pnntu-
ality, order and discipline of the schools, etc. All this was external
management which I thought excellent. Internal management in
education would relate to the character of the ideas to be fixed in
the young minds of the pupils.
For instance, we have seen, among other things, the public money
employed to teach the children " that the Catholics are deceitful."
This I could not call excellent — it was abominable ; but it was some-
thing internal, i. e. impressing itself upon the minds of the children.
I trust that this explanation will show Mr. Ketchum that when edu-
cation is divided into internal and external the latter does not mean
" outside of the schools," but simply outside of mind and heart of
the pupil.
19. lie says, "The Bishop knows how to describe the process of
blinding the eyes of the visitors very well." I thank him for the
compliment. But I have been reviewing for some time his speeches
on the School Question, and they are such admirable specimens of the
" blinding process," that I have but little merit in being able to des-
cribe it now. Religious prejudices, unfair and unfounded state-
ments, false reasoning, so-phistry and special pleading have all been
put in requisition to make up a false issue, and this for no higher
OF ME. KETCIIUM's REJOINDER. 241
end than to secure one or other of two results, viz. : to wound
the consciences of CathoHc children by making them attend public
schools constructed entirely on Protestant principles, or else con-
sign those children to ignorance by denying all other means of edu-
cation. ■•
How much more worthy of Mr. Ketchum's professional rank, if he
were found pleading for those he opposes, if he were found shedding
the light of a superior mind, and the glow of a warmer and larger
heart into the dark and chill region of anti-Ca,tholic bigotry and pre-
judices, instead of ministering new elements to increase their density
and murkiness. Why does he not leave the propagation of reli-
gious hatred to the pulpit, if they must be perpetuated, and preserve
at least the legal profession untainted by their foul, contaminating
breath ? Why does he not forewarn the community that they must
expect less virtue hereafter from the children -sVhom he now labors
to cut off from the hope of education, than from their equals in age,
who may look forward to a more fortunate and partial future?
Why does he not tell the Legislature and the Judge that the punish-
ment of crime should be according to a mitigated standard for those
against whom he shuts the door of knowledge unless they sacrifice
that for which great men in all ages sacrificed everything besides —
conscience ? They, surely, are not to be judged by laws made for an
educated community.
I have now replied to Mr. Ketchum's rejoinder so far as pub-
lished ; neither have I any idea that in wliat is yet to come he can
produce other or better arguments than those he has already given.
16
242 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Meeting "in 'Washington Hall, February 11th, 1841.
The largest meeting which has ever been convened in this city oc
the subject of the Public SSiool System of Education was held at
Washington Hall, on Thursday evening, February 11, pursuant to
requisition. ^The spacious Hall — the largest in the city — was filled
to overflowing. The greatest enthusiasm prevailed, several interest-
ing and eloquent speeches were delivered, and measures were adopted
for bringing the question immediately before the Legislature. A
central executive committee was appointed to prepare a memorial
to be presented to that body ; and 'meetings in the several wards
and the appointment of a committee in each one were recommended.
This meeting was called in consequence of the Board of Aldermen
having reported adversely to the Petition of the Catholics for a poiv
tion of the School Fund. The meeting was organized by appointing
Thomas O'Connor, president ; Francis Cooper and Gregory Dillou,
vice-presidents ; and B. O'Connor and Edward Shortill, secretaries.
Thomas O'Connor, Esq., on taking the chair, remarked, that it
was not for the promotion of party or sectarian views that they were
assembled, but ■ simply to express their determination to persevere
in maintaining their just rights. The Catholics of New York had
been unjustly attacked, and they merely claimed the exercise of the
right to defend themselves. The Very Rev. Dr. Poweb then rose
and said that in the absence of Bishop Hughes, whose presence was
momentarily expected, he would briefly address the meeting. When
he had concluded. Bishop Hughes rose, and was received with loud
cheering, on the subsidence of which he spoke as follows: My
friends, take care of your •cheering, for if the advocate of the school
society be passing by, he will say this is a meeting of Whigs or
Democrats. He, you know, is not obliged to reason like other men,
and if he should pass by and reason so, the fault will be yours for
cheering, and not his for foolish reasoning. [Laughter and cheers.]
My friends, it is not necessary to go over the ground with which
you all arc familiar, and I will not, therefore, enter into the detail
of our past proceedings in this matter. We come here denied of
our rights, but not conquered ; and we tell these honorable gentle-
men of the public council that we asked of them only our rights.
We presented a case that required the attention of the body to
whom are entrusted the rights of the citizens of this great city.
We said, here are our grievances — here are our complaints — if we
are right, redress our grievances ; if we are wrong, point out our
error. They did not point out the error, because they could not
find one ; and they did not redress the grievances, although it was
in their power. [Cheers.] They certainly received us with great
politeness ; and for myself, I must say, that I am indebted to them
for their personal courtesy. Nevertheless, I was not so dark-
sighted as not to perceive from the very beginning that ^he end was
a foregone one ; because they called up all the spirits of the " vasty
THE SCHOOL QtnESTIOlf. 2i'd
deep" — the " black, bine and the grey" — to oppose us. " If any one
has anything to say against these men, let them speak !" was their
invitation, and they were not disappointed. We stated, in the most
respectful language, our claims to their interference; we stated
propositions which we were prepared to prove, and we can say, now
that it is all over, neither the honorable the Common Council, nor
the advocates of the School Society, nor the reverend advocates of
the bigotry of one sect, and the ignorance of another, dared to call
in question the' truth of a single proposition of ours. [Loud cheers.]
It is true that the aldermen of this city have, in the exercise of the
power vested in them, denied us our rights, but we are triumphant
over them, for logic and truth are with us. [Cheers.] Was there
a single inquiry respecting the truth of our alleged grievances, or
any attempt to redress them ? But the Rev. Dr. Spring, and the
Rev. Dr. Bond, and the Rev. Dr. Bangs and company [great laugh-
ter], came with an old volume of antiquated theology, and exclaimed,
" What monstrous people these Papists are !" The Common Council
heard them ; and instead of examimng the facts in which the
rights of their constituents are involved, entered on the oonsiderar
tion of abstract theological reasoning. We were required to an-
swer Dr. Spring; but no, a reply was not called for in that case,
for when a minister gives utterance to a dark-souled sentiment, un-
worthy of a Christian, then he deserves no answer. [Cheers.] Eight
or nine hours were wasted in the discussion of a theological tenet,
but not one half hour was given to the only question which the
Common Council should have permitted to come before them — ■
namely, are the rights of this portion of the citizens violated or not?
If so, are there in our hands, as the public guardians of liberty, the
means to apply a remedy ? Just and impartial judges would so
have stated the question, and have discarded all theological discus-
sions. [Cheers.]
But the discussion could not la'St always ; and when the stock of
bigotry was exhausted, we were permitted to retire, and a com-
mittee of three were appointed — for what purpose? To inquire
whether the facts of our documents were true ? No. In realjty,
from the wording of the resolution appointing the committee, it
seethed as if its members had been appointed to find out all they
could in favor of the Public School Society ; and, accordingly, they
do make an appeal — but what I must call a most weak and pitiful
appeal in favor of that Society, but not one word of reference to the
facts that we had submitted, or the grievances of which we had
complained. [Cheers.] The ultimate decision of that Board re-
minded me of a story I once heard of the times when, in Ireland,
■ law and justice were set at open defiance, and every petty tyrant
had the right to trample on his neighbor, provided he himself were
the minion of the government. A poor man was taken up by one
of these petty despots, and cast into prison, where he remained for
a considerable time, ignorant of his crime and his destiny, not
knowing whether he was to be sent to the gallows or the convict-
244 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
ship. But after a moijpth or so of susijense, the little tyrant came,
and marching his prisoner to the door, gave him a push and kicked
him out, when the poor man, finding himself abroad and at liberty
once more, turned round and very emphatically said, "Thank your
honor !" [L.aughter.] The aldermen have treated you somewhat
similarly, and I hope you will all say with becoming gratitude, now
that you are out of their hands, " Thank your honors !" [Loud
laughter and cheers.]
My friends, fortunately all our Methodisticat friends are not like
Dr. Bond, and all the Presbyterians are not like Dr. Spring.
[Cheers.] There is a generar sentiment of natural rectitude and
justice, by which a man is led to " do to his neighbor as he wishes
nis neighbor to do unto him," and that sentiment is gaining ground,
and by it we are gaining friends. [Cheers.] And we have an ap-
peal to a higher power than the Common Council — to the Legisla-
ture of the State. [Cheers.] And I trust it will be found that the
petty array of bigotry, which infl uenced the Common Council, can-
not overawe the Legislature. [Loud cheers.] It should be borne
in mind that the aldermen are not competent judges in this matter,
inasmuch as they are ex-officio trustees or members of the Public
School Society. They are like the Siamese twins, united together
[laughter], and jointly they form a monopoly which threatens to
mould and subjugate the minds of our children to their peculiar
notions. And the grievances of this case do nor afflict us alone —
they fall equally upon other religious denominations — and while it
is the Catholics to-day, it may be Universalists, or the Jews, or the
Baptists, or the Unitarians, to-rjorrow, who may suifer. Nay,
indeed, they already suifer. The translation of the Bible au-
thorized by King James I. of England, and used in the public
schools, is not approved of by the Baptists, or at least a por-
tion of them, neither is it by the Unitarians ; and as for us,
we have an old translation made long before King James was
heard of. [Cheers.] Yet our opponents insist that their favorite
version alone shall be used. Our children, too, are taught the
prayers of the Protestant Church, and we have heard of the children
of these schools singing Protestant hymns most piously, although
the Committee of the Board of Aldermen say nothing of it in their
Report, as they should have done. Do they then suppose that we
will, without a murmur, contribute to the support of such a system ?
[Cheers.] No. If we wrong them, let them publish their confes-
sion of faith — let them tell us the exact measure of the Public School
religion of the State of New York, and we may tell them how far
we can conform to it. Our opponents profess to be the friends of
general tolerance and general good will; yet they foment and
engender an active intolerance that scarcely finds a parallel in the
unjust government of countries notorious for acts of intolerance.
[Cheers.]
What, then, remains for us to do ? We must not fold our arms
and rest. We must take measures ; and for myself my part is nearly
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. ' 245
accomplished, inasmucli as my great object was to rouse attention
to this subject amongst the people for whose religion I am to a cer-
tain extent responsible, that no admixture of error shall be intro-
duced into it with my consent and approbation. [Loud cheers.]
I have therefore pointed out the character of these public schools,
and showed that Catholics could not support them without violating
their consciences. And so far I have done my duty. As to the
civil means in your power to obtain redress, it is not exactly my
place to point them out. Thank God, we live in a country the con-
stitution of whose government provides for the enjoyment of equal
rights by all ranks and denominations of citizens. [Loud cheers.]
There is one thing with which our opponents cannot charge us —
that is, political feeling in this matter; and I caii defy Mr. Ketchum,
with all his acuteness, to point to a single act of ours that had con-
nection with party politics. [Cheers.]
Ours is a case of a deeper and more important character than any
connected with transient party politics. And I trust that no such
defeat as we have experienced — the defeat of justice by authority —
shall make you give up your principles. Spread it abroad that you
ask no favor — no pre-eminence — no boon from their honors of the
Common Council, but that you have rights and these rights you
claim. Let them reserve their favors for those who want them.
[Loud cheers.] This is the ground on which the question will meet
with respect, both from your brethren in faith, and your fellow-
citizens at large. This is a question of right ; and though a whole
Board should be found to bend the knee to the Baal of bigotry, men
will be found who can stand unawed in its presence, and do right.
[Loud cheers.]
Bishop H. here entered into some details respecting the future
plan of pi'ocedure which the meeting should adopt, and suggested
the appointment of committees, as was afterwards carried into effect.
He then concluded : T have said all that is important for me to state,
and I have no disposition to review the ground over which we have
travelled. I^may, however, congratulate you on something gained.
The false ground was assumed by every one of our opponents before
the Common Council, that we wanted a portion of the public funds
for the purpose of promoting the Catholic faith. Wc have said re-
peatedly and explicitly that we had no such- aim — that our schools
would be sacred to secular education. But notwithstanding our
solemn assertions to the contrary, their Reverences took it into
their heads that such were our objects, and on that false position
they argued, and on that alone. The gentlemen, too, on the oppo-
site side, asserted that their books were free from sectarianism : this
assertion was incorporated m the proceedings and the report of the
Board of Assistant Aldermen on this subject last spring, but they
are now found drawing black lines over their books. [Laughter
and cheers.] That is something. That is a great deal. That is a
great move. [Cheers.] Because, should they relieve the minds of
Protestant youth from the influence of the bigotry their books had
246 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
previously disseminated, that is a great deal. They have also prom-
ised to purify their libraries ; that is something more. And though
they argue on the false ground that we are influenced by sectarian
motives, yet the honorable men of the city who are not blinded by
.the narrow and bigoted views which appear to predominate in the
Common Coimcil see that we only wMit a bona fiie education for
our children ; that when we call for bread, we do not want to have
a stone or a serpent given us in its place. [Cheers.] In conclusion
I will repaark, that, although the fiai of the Board, with one honor-
able exception [cheers], has gope against us, yet they have not made
a single proposition false that was true, nor a single proposition
true that was false — ^justice and right are still ours! fContinuied
cheering.]
Meeting in "Carroll Hall," March 30th, 1841.
On Tuesday evening, March 30th, a meeting of the Catholics of
this city was held in the large building corner of Duane street and
City Hall Place, for the purpose of receiving the report of the com-
mittee appointed to convey the petition of the Catholics of New
York, on the subject of the Common School Fun<3, to the Legisla-
ture of the State. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was unanimously called
to the chair. The chairman then informed the meeting that the
petition had been presented to the Legislature, after having received
seven thousand signatures, several of which were those of liberal
Protestant gentlemen. Their friend, Mr. Joseph O'Connor, whojiad
carried the petition to Albany, was exceedingly well received there
by members of both houses of the Legislature. The principle of
placing the Common School Fund under the control of any one cor-
porate body had been strongly disapproved. That they had gained
much in public opinion, he (the Chairman) had no doubt, whether
they would gain all he did not know, but he knew the Catholics had
done something towards the attainment of their object, and he fer-
vently trusted that they would ultimately succeed. [Cheers.]
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then rose, and was received with
enthusiastic applause. On its subsidence, he spoke as follows : The
difficulty, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, of seeing at the same time,
the different members of the committee appointed to carry the reso-
lutions of the last meeting into effect, prompted me without any
other authority to direct the call for this public meeting. I had no
special object in view, at least no prospective one. But at the same
I did not wish that an object of so much importance should, for any
great length of time, lie buried from the view and the attention of
those who are so deeply interested in it. [Cheers.] I say had no
prospective object, for I do not see that there is anything specific to
be proposed m relation to it to-night. We have got into that posi-
tion in which we must wait. Our bark, after having been a little
buifetted by the storm, some of its sail tattered, but all the rigging
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 247
soiind, is now resting in calm water, and if this meeting had any
object, it. was simply to refit, and to watch the signs of the weather.
[Loud cheers.]
The gentlemen who had been charged with preparing the petition,
have reported briefly the action which has been had upon it. I
believe that if there had been any means proposed to extend the
petition more widely for signatures, instead of seven there would
have been seven and twenty thousand names appended to it. But it
happens unfortunately for us that there are amongst us very few who
have at tho same time leisure to dispose of, and the disposition to
consecrate it to that purpose. Consequently, the Committee were
obliged, by «xertions on their own part, to circulate that petition in
the best manner they could. It was to me matter of regret, that
the petition had not been presented long before, but, certainly, the
Committee did all that depended on them to do to have it early pre-
sented, and having done so, I am glad and happy to hear, that it has
been well received, and received precisely in the manner which we
should have reason to anticipate from that body delegated by the
people of the State of New York to be the guardians and protectors
by law, of the common rights of all. ■ [Cheers.] It will indeed be
consoling to us — ^it will be an assurance against future contingencies
—it will inspire confidence, if it be found, as we trust it will, that
in that body, those considerations which happily belong not to any
secular tribunal in this country, those considerations of creeds, of
Avhich such a dastardly use was made before the Common Council,
will have no weight. These are the men who understand the con-
stitution of the country, who frame laws according to the principles
of that constitution — men who when they see by any change, or by
any combination of circumstances that the spirit of that constitu-
tion is violated, are appointed ex-offido to stand forth as the guardi-
ans of the great principles of the charter of American liljerty.
[Loud cheers.] I trmst that public virtue is not so much on the
wane, that men filling the high and honorable place which they do,
will deem it expedient to lean to the side of Wrong, when they
know what is right. And it is from these considerations that a
meeting of this kind brings rather pleasing reflections. But suppos-
ing the case were not so encouraging, and let me caution you not
to be too sanguine, for if the serpent found his way into the bowers
of lEden, who shall say that he shall not find his way into the halls
of legislation ? true, we have no such fear, but still let me say that
in the end we ourselves must stand by our own rights, if we ex-
pect that others will aid us in preserving and maintaining them.
[Cheers.]
Our question was a vei;y plain and simple one originally, and all
the sophistry, and all the bigotry, and all the quotations from anti-
quated works of theology, did not change its aspect. We are all
members of tbe great family of this community, and have the same
right to follow the dictates of our conscience as we grant to our
neighbors, and which they should grant to us. A community of
248 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
feeling is created by the common wants of all, but our opponents,
instead of a benefit, would turn this into au injury. They claim the
exclusive right of appropriating as they please, that which results
from the contributions of every man— Catholic, Methodist, Protes-
tant, Presbyterian, and all. That when it is amassed, it shall be
dealt out in mental nutriment, just such as they prescribe, whether
]ialatable to us or not. We tell them of the injustice of this — that
the educa!tion which might be proper and perfectly lawful for Protes-
tant children, might be very injurious for Catholic children — that if
they are pleased with the system to keep it, and that then, in the
exercise of an authority vested in the corporation of this city, schools
complying with the requirements of the law, doing those things for
■which this money was contributed, but freed from these noxious
principles, shall be designated, and that a portion not of their money,
but the portion that may justly be supposed to belong to us, shall be
sot apart for the support of these schools. We make no claim but
such as any other denomination might with equal justice and pro-
priety prefer. We want our children, whilst receiving the elements
of education in the schools, to be freed from the poisonous influence
of sectarianism. [Cheers.]
What I said before, I repeat now, that we advanced not a single
proposition, of which we did not lay the proofs before their Honors ;
and that in the whole course of the discussion, not a single solitary
proposition of ours Avas dispro\'ed by the men who arrayed them-
selves in opposition to our claims. [Loud cheers.] The fact is they
did not pretend to disprove them — they did not think it worth their
while — they said, " You believe in the Council of Trent" — but did
that overturn our al-guments ? Not one solitary statement of ours
was disturbed. So far from that, the committee did not bring for-
ward anything that was not well known before. They reported that
the school houses were all nearly of the same size, and built alike
[laughter], and that they found good order there. But there were
other things of which they said nothing — they did not report that
they found the children all singing hymns that certainly had not the
approbation of the Council of Trent [laughter], and repeating the
Lord's Prayer, with those additions which Protestants make, but
we do not. They said these were very beautiful things, and could do
no harm. But then when the Catholic mother teaches her child the
Lord's Prayer, and the child finds another form at school, and comes
home and asks its mother how all that happens — of that we com-
plain. We hold that such meddling is improper, and we only de-
mand what is reasonable and just, and we challenged them to point
to anything unreasonable in our demands, promising that we would
correct it, and decline entirely pressing any such claim. But there
was nothing of the kind — our statements were not denied. "No man
presumed to say that our claims were unjust, and yet you know
their decision. That decision has thrown us on a course which we
trust will lead to an improvement of the system. It was a forraul.i
prescribed by the Common Council, and it was right that to them
THE SCHOOL QUESTIOJT. 249
\To should make oui first appeal. But they have transferred from
themselves to a higher tribunal, the responsibility of doing us jus-
tice, and -we have applied to that tribunal with brighter hopes and
more unclouded prospects. [Cheers.] If we do not succeed next
session, 4hen we must keep our minds directed to the next session,
and if not successful, then to the next again. [Laughter and cheers.]
If you were to fall back like the sluggard on his pillow, because at
first a little diflSculty occurs, in every future attempt you would be
alike unsuccessful. It would be said that you wanted spirit — that
you made a great noise for a little, and then all was over. No !
Understanding the question — its bearings on your rights as citizens
— as men having consciences that are inviolable — with a proper un-
derstanding of these things, you must persevere. Stand by justice.
Prefer your claims, and sooner or later you will gain the ears and
good will of those who have the power and the ability to redress
your grievances. [Cheers.]
But there is another view of the subject, or rather a view result-
ing from the state of things, which it is certainly my disposition to
press much on your attention, that is, that having found that the
schools provided at the public expense are not a source of benefit to
you and your children, that you take care that your children shall
not be left to ignorance — on the contrary, every parent will exert
himself so that your poor children shall not lose their time — that
they shall be adding in the best possible way to that knowledge that
is to be useful to them in after life. Wo must then look forward to
the organization of schools, and what is more, if they force it upon
us, wo must look forward to the expurgation of books. So that if
we are ultimately obliged to educate Catholic children at the ex-
pense of second taxation — that is, when they first take our taxes
and transfer them to an irresponsible corporation that uses them not
for our benefit, and only return them in the way that injures us, we
must have a second recourse to our pvxrses — then, indeed, we shall
study that ours will be a thorough education, and a thorough Cath-
olic education. [Cheers.]
In point of value the whole amount of this taxation is exceedingly
insignificant, only at the rate of one-eightieth of one per cent, so that
an individual rated at $10,000, pays to this fund only about fifty
cents. Now we know a great many men among the Catholics that
could rate at $10,000. In that way, a man owning property to that
amount, has to pay only fifty cents ; yet from these small sums a
very considerable amount is raised. Thus, in point of fact, it is not
the araoimt of money with which we Ijave to do, but it is with the
tampering with a principle against which every honest man of every
creed should raise his indignant voice. [Cheers.] If I see, in this .
country, a Jew oppressed because he is a Jew, though I have no
sympathy with his religion, I feel sympathy with his rights, for there
there is a principle involved which closely concerns myself. And
if the citizens permit the Jew to be trampled on to-day, the next
weak denomination may fall a victim to-morrow, and so on, till there
250 ■ AEOHBISHOP HUGHES.
be only otie dominant denomination, ruling over, and trafficking in
the rights of all other denominations. [Cheers.] On these groimds
is this question important, as well as because it is an imperative duty,
incumbent upon you and me, to see that no principle^ of religion
of which we do not approve shall be fixed in the minds of our
children. The account of this is not of this world, and under the
sense of this solemn duty, I felt called on to mingle with you in the
agitation of this question, and dii-ect your attention to it till you
should understand it, and be prepared to act on it, in conjunction
with that duty which you and I are alike bound to discharge.
[Cheers.]
I do not know that I have anything more of interest or worthy
yoUr attention to present on the subject. It has often been discussed,
and I presume is now perfectly understood. But tbis one thing I
would impress upon yon, that wherever religion is concerned, it
comes before all other concerns — that is to say, the duty that a man
owes to his conscience and his God ; and the order of obligation is
first to God, and then to our conscience— after God to our con-
science, before our parents or families, that is the order ; and there-
fore I should think it a perversion of that order, if any man, for
sake of that expediency on which we look with such contempt as
ruling in a hall not far distant [laughter], should sacrifice his duty
to his God, for sake of what be regards as a little advantage on his side.
If, after all, my friends, the question be overruled and no remedy
left us, thpn submission will be our duty-^but it will be a glorious
submission. [Cheers.] Every just — every honorable — every fair
means should be adopted and persevered in steadily, and firmly, uu-
tU your rights be recognized and secured if it be possible. [Loud
cheers.] Perhaps thei'e are other gentlemen present, particularly
the Chairman of the Committee, who was not present some time ago,
who could interest you more especially in regard to recent occur-
rences. I have every reason to believe that everywhere there is
the same unanimity of feeling that our grievances should be re-
moved, and what is more, that each one so expressing himself was
ready to aid us in obtaining redress. That is consoling, for that
shows a very difierent state of things to that which presented itself
to me when I first returned from Europe. Then, those who under-
stood the subject were few. Nothing but a proper understanding
of the subject was wanting ; but by discussion, and meetings, and so
forth, that knowledge has spread from tbe centre to the circumfer-
ence of our people. Our people now begin to understand that
insidiously, and, as it were, drop by drop, this system was igcmg on,
tending to wean the affections of their children from that religion
for which their parents had suffered so much. [Cheers.] They
understand this, and therefore I cannot but congratulate you on the
improved condition of public feeling in relation to this matter.
Elsewhere we have made many friends— and let me tell you, by way
of a secret, that some who once opposed us have acknowledged thait
we are right. [Loud cheers.]
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 251
We have to wait then till we know the issue of our respectful
petition to the Legislature at Albany. I have every reason to
believe that it will be attended to. There is- nothing in that i^etition
which can shook the prejudices of any man or class of men. There
is the statement of a grievance, an^ in all civilized countries
wherever there is a grievance that can be corrected without entail-
ing a greater grievance, a remedy will be applied. In such a state
of confidence then let us wait patiently. Nevertheless the principle
involved in the case must be kept present in every man's mind —
must be the guide and rule of his action and expression of his opin-
ion in reference to this matter. Otherwise you may be Assured that
the great influence of the Public School Society, and a very great
influence it is, extending its fibres like those of the ivy around the oak
of authority amongst you, will prevail against you. But persevering
in your efforts with the same firmness, and calmness^ and determ-
ination which has hitherto marked our struggle, my word for it, you
must succeed ! [Loud cheers.]
The meeting was then addressed by other speakers, who having
referred to political aflairs the Eight Keverend Bishop Hughes
arose and said: — When Iireturned from Europe, the very first thing
I did when attending a meeting for the purpose of directing atten-
tion to this question, was to take measures that all politics should
be excluded ; and in the prosecution of the question up till this
time, I have the pleasure and the pride to say tha* no politics have
been introduced. We have attended meetings under St. James's
Church and elsewhere, aod have not heard a syllable that I did con-
ceive to be political in the remotest degree. And the moment
politics are introduced, that moment I disappear from this meeting.
I knew, indeed, that that had been the firebrand cast amongst those
who first met for the purpose of prosecuting these claims, and
therefore knowing it to be a firebrand, I felt it to be my first duty
to extinguish it ; and it was extinguished. Now the question
has been agitated to-night, and certainly, though for m^yself I did
not hear with pleasure one observation of the learned doctor, yet I
did not at all understand him as introducing politics. I may not
understand the hidden meanings of words, and not being familiar
with the subject may have a mistaken impression ; but I under-
stood the Doctor to have expressed what I believe to be a self-
evident proposition, that if I appoint a man to provide for the public
table, and be sets on it what I cannot eat, that then my duty is to
withhold from him my future support. Now I agree most decidedly
in sa,ying that politics must not be introduced, first, for the perhaps
insignificant reason that if they be introduced I disappear from
amongst you, and seeondij for the very important one, that your
prospects would thereby be defeated.
Nevertheless, without being at all eonnected with polities, yet if a
man appointed to sapply the public table with food does not do so,
I feel it to be my duty to displace him, simply because he does not
do me justice. That I do not call politics. But I conceive that any
252 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
man who will conspire with the man who deprives him of his rights,
deserves to be so deprived of them. If you have any regard, then,
for my feelings or your own interests, do not introduce politics.
We do not meet for political purposes. I defy our enemies or our
friends to shew that one word of politics was ever tolerated in our
meetings. Occasionally an unguarded expression might escape, but
I never could nor did attach any importance to it. So whilst I feel
on the one side that the Doctor has not introduced politics, I
argue most decidedly in the propriety of the remarks made-by the
last speaker, so far as they went, to exclude politics. I trust, there-
fore, that it will be after I have received notice to retire, that politics
will be introduced.
I have been accused of politics. But my politics are to do my
duty, imperfectly, I know, but in the hope that by doing it I may
have some c!aim to the mercy of my God in another life. Part of
my duty, I felt under that sense of obligation, was to protect from
contamination the minds of the children of the people committed to
my care — to guard their faith with the guardianship devolved upon
me by the Catholic Church, and in furtherance of that object, I
attend this meeting.
I believe that amongst both political parties, there are good and
very bad men, and I look upon both from the neutral ground. With
you it is different, and whilst it is your privilege to have your polit-
ical feelings, and to exercise your political rights with modesty and
discretion, and mindful of the estimation in which you would be
held by your fellow-citizen, here at least there must be no introduc-
tion of the subject. Hoping that my remarks will be received with
kindness, and prevent any reference to these topics in future, I sit
down. [The Right Reverend gentleman resumed his seat amid
loud and continued applause.]
The Chairman then remarked, that although he was precluded
from engaging in the discussion of the subject before the meeting,
yet he would say a few words in reference to the matter which had
just been incidentally introduced. He felt that all agreed in the
wisdom of the remarks made by the Right Reverend speaker, who
last addressed the meeting ; and indeed there was an absolute
impossibility that politics could mingle this question. Why ? Be-
cause when a Catholic goes to the poll, and finds two candidates,
one calling himself a Locofoco and the other calling himself a Whig,
and he inquires which party voted against the Catholic claims, the
answer will be — both parties voted against you. How, then, in the
name of common sense, could politics be inti'oduced? {Loud
cheers.] He was glad that the Catholic claim had been transferred
from those in immediate contact with the Public School Society to
those who were further removed, and therefore, the more likely to
do justice. From the Legislature, justice might be got ; but from
their enemies at home, whether Whig or Locofoco, none was to be
expected. [Cheers.]
TheRight Reverend Bishop Hughes again rose and said —Amotion
THE SCHOOL QUBSTIOK. 253
for the adjonmment of the meeting is in preparation, but I had in-
tended to have introduced to your notice some other matter not
connected with the question immediately before you, but very closely
connected with the interests of the Catholic religion in this city.
Ho\yever, I shall postpone it till some other opportunity, and proba-
bly it win be better to call a meeting for that specific purpose.
Time, at present, will not permit me to develop at any length the
state of some matters connected with the Catholic churches of this
city. Many of them are in a very embarrassed condition, and since
I have been absent, a thing perhaps unprecedented in this Diocese
has occurred, two of our churches have been entered by the sheriff,
and sold for small sums, but of course with the prospect of being
regained. But this should operate as a warning in reference to the
churches we have been in the habit of frequenting. My purpose,
which! shall explain at another time, will be to unite the Catholics
of this city, under some organization in a peculiar manner, for the"
purpose of raising means by a general contribution to diminish the
capital of the debt on the churches. And when I speak of this, it is
to_ be observed, at the same time, that in doing this the Catholics
will be only doing in another form what they will be obliged to do
if they leave this undone. As it is, we are paying an enormous sum
for interest. Now, the support of the churches and the payment
of this interest, devolve principally upon a certain number of Catholics
who are more prominent and better known. Sometimes it reaches
somewhat into the people at large, but generally the burden falls on
a particular class. And there is recourse to fairs and concerts, and
different things of which I would not approve, nor tolerate were it
not for the necessity of the case. But every expedient is employed
to put off and beat off the last hour which must come upon churches
as well as on every thing else that is hypo^;hecated — mortgaged.
All this must be calculated rather to depress than inspire with hope.
Nevertheless, in a little time, it could be shown that great as is the
resjionsibility of the churches, if only fortunate enough to combine
into one the energies of our clergy and the people themselves, it
would be the easiest thing in the course of three, or at most four
ye^rs, to extinguish the debt, or so diminish it as not to be felt. In
so doing you would at once secure your churches in the service of
the God to whom they have been consecrated, and remove the debt
which operates as an incubus on the further development of our
church in this community. The exertions that are necessary to pro-
vide for the everlasting drain for interest, etc., should bring the mat-
ter home to the means and zeal of every man and woman who have
zeal for their religion. All should unite in the establishment of a
fund, to be at stated periods, and under, proper management, dis-
tributed to the churches, on conditions that will make it effectual ,in
attainuig our object. In the meantime, I shall endeavor to mature
a plan to effect this, and present it to you on a future occasion.
[Loud cheers.]
254 AECHBISHOP HTTGHES.
Meeting in " Carroll Hall," April 30, 1841.
On Tuesday evening April 20, a numerous and respectable meet-
ing of the Catholics of this city was held in the large building corner
of Duane street and City Hall Place. On motion of Mr. Mullen,
Tiios. O'CoNnroE, Esq., was unanimously called to the chair. Messrs.
B. O'CoNXOR and John Quinn were appointed secretaries of the
meeting.
The Eight Rev. Bishop Hughes then arose and was received with
loud and continued applause. He spoke as follows ; — Gentlemen,
it has no doubt been anticipated that you should receive some news
respecting the progress of the question in which we are all so much
interested. Circumstances, however, have rendered the result dif-
ferent from what might have been anticipated, and as yet it appears
that there is nothing to be reported on the subject. However, it is
still of the greatest importance that we should keep sight of that
question — that we should have it present to our minds, for the more
it is reflected upon, the more any sensible man will be convinced
that if we believe in the truth of our religion^ — and I trust we
would not profess it if we did not believe it — that it is one of the
most vitally important questions that can possible engage our atten-
tion. The importance of that question has been frequently dis-
cussed, and it is one which has been viewed not by us alone, for there
is a zeal which goes directly counter to ours. We are zealous to
preserve our children in that religion which we believe to be true,
and in which we ourselves hope for salvation ; and others are
exceedingly zealous that, for their good no doubt, our children
should be seduced, under the plea of education, from adherence to
that religion. And thus the question stands. The whole pretence
on the part of the opposition was pretence of friendship for educa-
tion— a zeal that all might be educated on that broad and liberal
syste^n which wishes to have religion without any articles of faith.
Nevertheless, from time to time the true views which actuated those
who are most zealous in opposing our claims became manifest ; and
but yesterday my attention was called to an article in a sectarian
papei-'bearing on the subject and going to show to its very large cata-
logue of subscribers that we are the enemies of education, that we
love darkness and dread light, and that therefore we are exceedingly
solicitous lest the Catholic children basking in the light which the
Common Schools furnish should see the error of the ways of their
fathers, and therefore abandon them ! — And they go on to say that it
is impossible for the Catholic cliildren of Catholic parents, born in this
country, to profess the religion of their parents if they are allowed
those advantages, and that it is on that account that wo are so
solicitous to withdraw them from the Public Schools. But tliey go
still farther, and make a very nice calculation r-especting the chil-
dren, the result of which is, that by the working of this system
luring the past, and, not including the results to be anticipated from
THE SCHOOI, QUESTICJSr. 255
the future, out of every twenty ohiWren, fifteen will become Protes-
tants ; or, what is nearly as good, will cease to be Catholic ! "When
that is the view which they take of it, and when we know the
working of the sj-stem, then is the importance of the subject increas-
ed, and whatever may be the result of our application for our por-
tion of that money which we contribute for the benefit of education
without these enroachment on religions freedom — whatever may be
the result of that — one great advantage has been gained, that the
attention of parents has been called emphatically to the subject.
Now we do not enter into the question, what is the amount of their
education, but the matter is an exceedingly simple one, and it is
good for us, and for the benefit of those who may be disposed to
report fairly what they hear, to commence by stating the question.
The question between us and our fellow-citizens, is as one between
two, or, if you please, three individuals. Two agreeing in religious
sentiments, and the third disagreeing, and the two come to the third
and say, "You must pay a portion of money for the education of
the children of the three of us, and we will shape the education to
suit the views which we entertain, and you must submit." The
third says, " No ! I would prefer to keep my own portion and
superintend the education of my own children ; because in this
country religious rights are secured, and when you frame a system
for your children and compel me to support it, although I disagree
with you in religious principles, you do me injustice ; you are to be
sure two against one, and you may decide against me by your
majority, but nevertheless you violate justice." And what is said of
the Catholic applies with equal force and justice to any other religion.
Because every man has granted unto him by the laws — the happy
laws of this country — the right of worshijjping God according to the
dictates of his conscience, This is the true statement of the ques-
tion— for, ai-gue it, mystify it as you please, it comes down to this
simple matter-of-fact illustration. We never wanted their money,
and even if we wanted our own, it was not for the purpose of teach-
ing religion, but for the purjjose of conveying education without
anti-Catholicity. And they contend, manfully contend, that educa-
tion such as they prescribe shall be given, and impregnated with
that leaven, simple as it may be, but yet enough to ooiTupt the
whole mass. (Loud cheers.) This experiment of the past, gentlemen,
I should think quite sufficient to admonish the Catholic body of New
York to take measures for the future. And whether the State
allows our claim or not, we should remember that we are able
and bound to provide for the education of our children. This is
but what we have been doing for years. We have voluntarily
undergone that expense — but it has been done by isolated efforts,
sometimes not very successful, and not most advantageous for the
children.
All that we want now is, that the Catholic parents should understand
this question. We have another deficiency which will, I trust, soon
be supplied — that is, want of teachers. For though we have in
256 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
many cases excellent teachers, yet often we are obliged to take them
as they ofFer, and sometimes though not altogether competent, on
account of our want of proper means. When in Ireland last sum-
mer, among other objects of curiosity, I visited one of the schools
conducted by a society of young men, who had associated them-
selves voluntarily, and devoted their lives, and talents, and acquire-
ments, which are sometimes of a very high order, to supply that
education of which the tyrannical government of Britain tried to
deprive the Irish people. [Loud cheers.] They looked for no rec-
ompense— they feel that it is — and especially in that unfortunate
country — a great work of mercy, to supply by the devotion of their
time and talents that which should have been provided for by the
zeal of their goverement. I was present at an examination there,
and in all the examinations that ever I have witnessed, I never saw
one more calculated to give satisfaction. Everything is systema-
tized by them. Their Superior and leading members have directed
their attention to every improvement in the science — ithe profound
science, of imparling knowledge to the young mind, and every prac-
tical and sound improvement has been adopted by them. And such
order — such facility in going through that examination with the
least loss of time, I have not seen in any other establishment at any
time or place. The pupils appeared to be themselves perfectly mas-
ters of the subjects on which they were examined. Geography, and
history, and several other branches of education were treated of, and
in all they appeared to be perfectly at home.
My intention is to send to Ireland, and that within three weeks,
for as many members of this excellent community as I can find wil-
ling to devote themselves to the education of the whole Catholic
children of New York. [Loud and continued applause.] Before two
weeks, I trust that a person duly authorized to make that applica-
tion will bo on his fray, and I hope also, from the encouragemen*.
that I have to cherish that hope, that, within four or five months, :
sufficient number will be here to commence. They may not — fo
they are ^ery much in demand where they are — ^be able to send ab
many as will suffice, but at all events they will send enough to en-
graft their improved and excellent system on such others here as
may be disposed and otherwise qualified to assume the office of
teachers. And the support of these "Brothers of the Christian
Doctrine," as they are termed, will not equal that which the Catho-
lics have been paying from year to year in addition to their taxation
— for these Brethren accept of nothing but food and clothing.
Now I conceive that in this way we will be enabled to supply the
great want of which I have spoken. In this way we will bring the
many hundreds of children of poor parents under the salutary disci-
pline of education and religion ; and at all events if we are obliged
to teach our children at the expense of a second taxation, we will
be free to bring them up in the Christian religion, and even in the
Catholic faith. [Loud cheers.] I have no doubt that the whole Cath-
olic body in New York will regard the arrival of these men for this
THE SCHOOL QUESTIOIf. 257
purpose, as a public blessing ; and I have not the least doubt that in
the course of five or six years, any who at first may have doubted,
will be convinced that for them and their children the arrival of these
Brethren was indeed a public blessing. [Cheers.]
As we are here assembled, I may as well direct your attention for
a few minutes to some topics having very important reference to the
interest of the Catholic community. Our misfortune heretofore has
been that we have not been united — that is, united on a large and
comprehensive basis, for the promotion of our true interests. Efforts
here and there, have been continually made, but there has not ap-
peared to be a general spirit of co-operation and unity of action, by
which we, like other denominations, should promote our interests as
a religious community. I regret that either the imperfect notice of
this meeting, or the inclemency of the weather, or both causes com-
bined has not permitted a larger assembly, although I am somewhat
surprised to find it so large as it is. But I should like on this occa-
sion to have representatives, as it were, of the whole Catholic body,
so that they could discuss amongst themselves and communicate to
all their brethren in the city, the hints I am about to throw out and
the views I intend to suggest, and consider how far they are practi-
cable and may be carried out.
It is known to you — at least if you have paid any attention to the
subject, it should be known^ — that the Catholics are far toonumer^
ous for the spiritual means within the power of the clergy. It is
supposed that there are in this city from 60,000 to 80,000 professors
of the Catholic faith — and for these how many clergy ? There are
able to perform active and efficient duty 9 or 10 at the most ! One
clergyman for 8,000 people, or for 7,000 if you take a lower esti-
mate. What, I ask, can Ibe his influence among such a mass of peo-
ple ? Where can be his influence in the first great elementary di-
vision of society — the family ? Where his superintendence of the
children ? He who from morning to night knows no rest from lar
bor, but is constantly engaged in visiting the sick or attending to
other duties, and, as I myself from experience and personal knowl-
edge can testify, knows no hour of cessation, has not a moment to
devote to the children. Now the children should be initiated into
the knowledge and practice of their religion, from nine or tenyears
of age. But the clergy are so busily engaged in other duties of
their office, that even if children presented themselves to them in
crowds, they cannot be attended to.
More, we have not church-room enough for the increasing num-
bers of the CathoUo fold. Without additional church accommoda-
tion, there never will be that just proportion between the numbers
of the people and the clergy, that is necessary for the due develop-
ment of ^he power of religion in reforming character and correcting
vice and in bringing men up towards that high and holy standard
which our faith proposes. There should be, to effect this, at least
one pastor for every 1200 or 1500 souls. Any clergyman charged
with the cai-e of that number has quite as much as he is able to an-
17
258 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
swer for. If there were clergymen in that proportion, then would
their personal influence be felt, and not as now.. We now see our
people in large masses on Sunday — they disperse — we meet them
in the street — but we know them not. There may be a thousand
evils existing, spreading their desolating influence, and bringing
scandal and reproach on the Catholic name, not from remissness
on the part of the clergy, but from mere physical inability to attend
to the wants of such multitudes.
Should we not then — I speak now of the whole Cathohc body —
endeavor to diminish this disproportion between the numbers of our
clergy and people ? Certainly ; and everything going towards that
should be something dear in the breast of every Catholic in the com-
munity. [Loud cheers]
And now I have another topic. Supposing we had the clergy, we
want the churches too. And when I speak of churches, it strikes
me that most of those acquainted with the present state of our
churches, swamped as they are in debt, will say I had better not re-
fer at all to this subject. But it is true that the Catholic churches
are obliged to pay in interest for debt, a sum which would enable
us to build one new church at a cost of $20,000 every year. Is not
this state of things calculated to attract the attention of the Catho-
lic body ? [Loud cheers.] I have made an estimate from items I have
received, and find that the amount of the debt is $300,000 ; and yet,
enormous as that debt may appear, if a general Catholic spirit were
difi"used amongst those who profess our religion, it would not weigh
as it were one feather against the progress of our faith. A united
action — a combination of effort — in a word a change in the circum-
stances of that debt, would in a short time bring about such a state of
things that it would cease to be felt, and means would be provided
for the onward march of our religion in proportion to the increasing
wants of the people.
How could all this be done ? Let us take our figures again. Let
us suppose that instead of a weak congregation here struggling
with debt, and a strong congregation there with very little debt —
that instead of leaving the weak congregation to struggle with a
burden doubly oppressive on account of that weakness, the strong
, should come to its assistance, in a short time the whole, or principal
part of that debt would be swept away. What would you thus do ?
I address you as if you were the whole Catholic body of New York.
You would take money out of one pocket and put it in the other—
you would be gradually extinguishing that debt, for which you are
now obliged to pay a large sum for interest, which is all swallowed
up. [Cheers.]
I have said that this state of things hinders the progress of our re-
ligion, and I will tell you how. Suppose a number of people cannot
find church accommodation, and they resolve to build a church.
They apply to the Bishop for permission, which if granted, immedi-
rately the pecuniary wants of the neighboring congregation where
they may have attended, induce them to rise up and say " If leave be
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 259
granted you will ruin us, for our revenue, iiotwithstanding all wc do
by oratorios, and this and that other means, is scarcely adequate
to keep us afloat, and if you allow another church, it will draw away
so much of our revenue, and we will sink." And so, for fear of all
that, tlie souls of people must be left destitute.
Should such a state of things be permitted to continue ? Is it not
one which calls immediately for any action by which a reasonable
hope may be expected of diminishing the progress of that impedi-
ment to the advance of our rehgion ? It is not however for churches
alone that exertions are necessary. It is for everything that religion
requires. I may quote an instance — I mean of the college which 1
undertook some time ago. There has been no want of zeal on our
part to present the claims of that institution ; and, althojigh a good
deal was subscribed, and a good deal paid, yet it was with the great-
est difficulty that we could drag along. Because it was a general
cry. We have to sustain our church and we are sinking. There was
no end to this ; and thus in the isolated difficulty of each particular
portion arises that want of general zeal so necessary to carry any
thing triumphantly through.
Now wliat is there to prevent an association which I intend to
form — that is, on the principle of one of which I will have more to
say at another time, and which is designated the " Association for
Propagating the Faith " — to the funds of which the members con-
tributed one cent weekly ? This society is now extensively known
in Europe, and has been the means of extending the Catholic faith
from the rising to the setting of the sun, more or less in every region
where that faith has been proclaimed, since its origin. There is no
reason why such an institution should not be established amongst
us; and although the rules of that institution require that the funds
should be placed at the disposal of the Central Board, nevertheless I
have reason to believe that in a country like this, and in our circum-
stances, they would never ask a penny of them expended anywhere
but in the diocese itself. The money thus collected would be dis-
tributed amongst the churches, and would soon extinguish the bur-
den Avhich now presses them down to the earth, instead of sinking
$20,000, year after year, in the payment of interest. Besides, the
churches would contribute in this way cheerfully, aware that no
other collections would be made, as at present, by means of ora-
torios and fairs, and other temporary expedients, in which a few
take an interest, and which are of so little avail. For, let me sup-
pose a case. We get up an oratorio for the benefit of a church.
Well, it is all well enough, and the audience — which may sometimes
be five, six, eight hundred, or a thousand — suppose that their dol-
lars go to the benefit of the church ; but, it is found in the end that
all the dollars went for the music, and that the church gets nothing!
Would not Catholics, then, rather give their dollar, knowing it
would be appropriated directly to the purpose for which it is given ?
Let some plan then be organized. I only throw out hints on which I
wish you to dwell, so that when something more tangible is pre-
260 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
sented, you will be entitled to give it proper consideration. We
are now speaking on a kind of half-ground between cliurcbes and
banks [a laugh], and I am happy to be able to do so in a place where
to speak of such things does not render us liable to the charge of
profanation. [Cheers.]
We have been speaking of the small amount necessary for each
individual ; and in this time, when projects for reformation are made
on every hand, and amongst others that for the promotion of tem-
perance— where we see it extending on every side with happiest
results, in regard not only to the increased temporal comforts of the
people, but to their disposition to return with more fidelity and
deeper devotion to the duties of their religion — on the Report of
the Temperance Society I have taken the pains'to make a little cal-
culation. Supposing the Catholics in this diocese to number, as it
is said they do, 200,000, and making an allowance — striking as it
were a kind of average line between those who drink more than
they ought, those who drink moderately, and those who do not
drink at all — would it be too much to suppose that on an average
each expends three cents a day for every kind of drink? How
much, then, do you think do the Catholics, who are so poor, and
obliged to earn their daily bread by laborious toil, expend for drink
every year ? Why, just as near as may be, two million two hun-
dred and ninety thousand dollars a year ! If this be correct, and if
for one year the whole community would practice total abstinence,
where would the debts of the churches be ? [Loud cheers.] Well,
if the small contributions of the many amassed together produce
such an important result, I ask, need the Catholics of New York be
any longer retarded by that debt ? But they should change their
position. Instead of indefinitely paying the interest, and thereby
crippling every effort — instead of allowing matters to remain in this
condition — let some general plan be, adopted by which the debt may
be extinguished altogether. By one united efibrt, in three years the
debt might be all swept away, and then you could go on for ten or
fifteen years, adding each year a church to the number already
erected, and that would not be more than the wants of the people
require. [Cheers.]
It is not the. time now, nor are we now prepared for submitting a
plan for this purpose, but, without going into detail, it seems that
one might be suggested which gentlemen may think over in their
minds. My own notion would be to form a general association for
the purpose — to take the churches one with another — every church
in the city, Irish, French, and German — and, by an equal distribu-
tion to all, to go on till all should be clear of debt. That is to say,
suppose, in the first instance, eight churches, partakers of a general
distribution, the collection would be made to fall equally on all
parts of the city. But sbme to whom I have spoken of this have
said that will not pass with some, because they will say, we owe but
little, and we should not be obliged to contribute for others. But,
after all, what would be the difierence ? N"o one would feel it in the
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 261 '
end. At present, demands are incessantly made which fall chiefly
on the same individuals, who would surely much rather that once
for all a regular united effort were made, with the understanding
that no other expedients would be resorted to, and that the money
coUected was to be employed in extinguishing the debt itself.
[Cheers.]
I have thrown out the few hints that I intended to offer on the
present occasion. Probably, when we meet again, something more
practical, something in the form of a system, may be offered to your
notice, by which the great end in view may be accomplished. I
know that it is easy at meetings to propose things of this kind, and
that at first there is considerable ardor, but that that ardor abates, and
things remain as before. I conceive that the explanation of that
may be found, to a very great extent, in the circumstances in which
every effort of the kind has been heretofore made ; namely, that it
is never made till the church is pressed, and those that feel the
pressure show a great deal of zeal at first, but instantly, from a want
of united effort, it fails. I feel for the church with which I am my-
self acquainted, but I find one going this way and another that way,
and the isolated effort is lost. But let the effort be general, and my
zeal will not be damped. There is no use in concealing our situa-
tion. Let it be impressed on the people that the churches should
be paid for — that in doing that they do not make themselves poorer,
as they do fcy paying the interest, but will extinguish this debt for
which they are continually taxed. Let this be explained and under-
stood, and let us take the interest in the matter which it requires.
And the effort will not necessarily require to be continued, for in
two or three years at most the incubus would be removed, and
prosperity would reward our exertions. [Cheers.]
Now, it may be asked, how comes it that our churches are so
much in_ debt ? It results from the circumstance that the people
have flowed in on us faster than we were ready to receive them.
Because the very zeal for religion by which a temple was erected,
wherein the poor emigrant landing on these shores might adore his
God, provided it before those for whose accommodation it 'was built
were able to redeem it. All the efforts that could be made for the
time have been employed. But had they waited till the people were
able to pay for the churches, the churches would not have been
built, and we would have been in a still worse condition than at
present. But in the interval these people have become able to con-
tribute, and if the effort be made with unanimity, it will be an easy
matter to extinguish the debt thus contracted, or so to reduce it as
to be equivalent to its destruction in a short time. [Cheers.] With
these suggestions I conclude, and recommend my observations to
your consideration.
But one thing I may add, that if you -have any idea of succeeding
in this undertaking, you must embark in it with a large spirit — with
minds that grasp the whole subject, and you must blot out all petty
distinctions and considerations of individual profit. And are we
262 AECHBISHOP HDiHES.
not all one body, united in one faith ? and according to the very
terms of that faith, if one member suffer, all should suffgr with it.
[Cheers.] Who is there that would not feel the blush mantling his
cheek, when he hears that a church, in which had been eelebratwi
the Holy Mysteries, had been desecrated by the hammer of the
sheriff! [Loud applause.] Who is there that has a pulse within
him that does not feel it a degradation to 'himself, though he may
never have worshipped in that church, nor hoped, to worship there ?
Now is the time for one united effort, and I trust that it will be
made.
Important Meeting of the Friends of Freedom of Educa-
tion, in Washington Hall; June 1, 1841.
Pursuant to the call for a meeting to be held on Tuesday eve-
ning, the 1st of June, 1841, at the Washington Hall, corner of
Broadway and Reade street, of all persons interested in the cause
of education of the children of the poor, a general meeting was held,
and was organized by calling Gregory Dillon, Esq., to the chair,
and the appointment of B. O'Connor and Edward Shortill as secre-
taries.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and approved,
James W. McKeon, Esq., on behalf of the Executive Committee, of
which he was chairman, made a report of the proceedings since the
presentation to the Legislature, at its last session, of the memorial
of those who, dissatisfied with the present system of education in
the city of New York, were desirous that its blessings should be
more equally and widely extended.
Mr. McKeon then offered, on behalf of the Executive Committee,
the following resolutions : — Resolved, That although we deeply re-
gret the postponement of the New York School Bill by the Senate
of the State, we yet jjerceive in the liberal sentiments which prevail
in that high tribunal an acknowledgment of the grievances under
Mhich we labor ; grievances inflicted upon a large portion of the pop-
ulation under the present system, by a private corporation at va-
riance in all its features with the principles of our republican insti-
tutions. That in the manifestation of the enlightened views enter-
tained by distinguished members of the Senate in behalf of the
claims of the neglected and indigent children of the metropolis now
excluded from a participation in the benefits of the Common School
Fund, we recognize a powerful incentive to increased perseverance
in a cause which is one alike of reason, humanity and justice.
Renolved, That we conjure those from whom the light of knowl-
edge is withheld, and upon whom the calamities of ignorance are
entailed by reason of their want of confidence in the present intol-
erant and exacting monopoly system, to " be of good cheer," for in
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 263
that spirit of justice and equality which breathes through all our
institutions there is a confident assurance of the complete and final
enfranchisement of those who suffer the gOadings of oppression for
conscience' sake.
Resolved, That the imposition and collection of taxes, the disposi-
tion and disbursement of which is confided to a private corporation,
is contrary to every principle of responsibility sanctioned by this
government, and in the highest degree dangerous to our institutions
as establishing a precedent alarming in its character, because of the
power with which it invests a corporate body to abuse a public
trust without fear of consequences to its members, and in its will and
pleasure to set the constituted authorities at defiance.
Resolved. That the property acquired by the public money should
be held in the name of the people of the State, and that the authori-
ties are imperatively required by sound policy and duty to
take immediate measures to prevent property purchased by funds
raised by taxation from passing into the possession of a monopoly
over which the community have no control.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Hughes then rose, amid loud cheering, and ad-
dressed the meeting nearly as follows :
He commenced by saying, I have no doubt, gentlemen, that, not-
withstanding the explanations which I have made on former occasions,
and which I trust are satisfactory, yet with those who are opposed to
us on the subject in relation to which we are met this evening it will
be considered that in appearing here I occupy a place very inappro-
priate, undignified, and inconsistent with my character as a bishop.
But, fortunately, I am not obliged to measure my movements nor
my conduct by any rules which those gentlemen may please to pre-
scribe. I entertain ray own sense of propriety, and by that, and
not by what may be said by those who would desire that I should
be silent on this subject, shall I be governed. I do not esteem it
any discredit or anything inconsistent with my character, that I
should appear in such a place as this, and in a meeting convened for
such, purposes as the present. On the contrary, I do not hesitate to
declare that, next to the performance of the functions of the sacred
office which I hold, I consider that I cannot be employed in a man-
ner more consistent with the character of that office than in advo-
cating the cause of the poor, the oppressed and indigent children
who are excluded from the light of knowledge and deprived of a
just right by the unjust and grasping spirit of an irresponsible and
domineering society. It is for this that I appear here — to help to
raise up the poor and uneducated from the degradation of ignorance
to which a powerful and selfish body would consign them, unless
they would consent to sacrifice their conscientious convictions. In
their defence I have taken my stand — no taunts shall deter me — not
even the omnipotent Press can drive me from it. I shall abide by
it to the last, so long as I can raise my voice and assist in making
the truth heard and known on the great and vital principle for
which we are contending. [Great and continued cheering.]
264 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
In tlie resolutions which have been offered by the gentleman who
has just addressed you, there is something which I would notice
that appears like an expression of regret at the postponement of
final action upon our claims. I must say, respectfully, that I dissent
from this. I see nothing to regret in the course which things have
taken, and I feel no regret. Indeed I might almost say that I re-
joice at the disposition which has been made of our application for
the present ; for however gratifying the immediate grant of an un-
doubted right, such as that which we claim, would be to us, yet
when it will be secured to us, as secured it imdoubtedly will be,
after the grave and mature deliberation for which this postponement
will afford opportunity, it will be a source of much more confident
and solid congratulation than if our success should appear to be the
result of any seeming haste or carelessness on the part of those to
whom we have applied for redress. It will be remembered that at
all times and upon all occasions, and whenever we have spoken or
written upon this subject we have invariably declared that we asked
for nothing but what was right and just, and that whenever it ap-
peared that there was anything wrong, anything in our claims to
which we were not as citizens of this State strictly entitled, that in-
stant we would relinquish it. This is the principle upon which we
commenced, and upon which we have acted, and to which we shall
always adhere. And our cause being thus the cause of Truth and
Justice, what have we to fear from time ? Nothing. We desire
that our claim should be investigated, because we are convinced
that the more it is considered and examined the more apparent wiU
become the soundness of the principles upon which it is based. We
desire investigation, therefore, and are willing that ample time
should be given for that purpose. And that the question has been
postponed and time taken for more mature reflection, is not, I repeat,
a matter for regret or surprise. And so I have no doubt the post-
ponement was considered by those Senators, or by many of them at
least, who desired to make themselves more fully acquainted with
the subject. They generally expressed themselves in favor of the
principle for whicla we contend, but desired time to hear and ex-
amine all the objections that could be urged against it, and I honor
them that they have done so. They were responsible to their con-
stituents, and they were right in demanding time to be able to as-
sure themselves that they would not, in granting the prayer of the
petitioners, be committing an error. Had it been otherwise, — had
a law securing to us our rights been immediately passed, — might it
not have been urged with some plausibility by our opponents, that
it was hasty legislation ; that the State Government was carried in
an unguarded moment ; and thus dissatisfaction would have been
created,! and the system proposed to be established might fail of
securing that general confidence which is so essential to the success
of public measures of a comprehensive character ? But now no ob-
jection of that kind can be raised. Ample time is given for inquiry
and deliberation, and the success which awaits us will be stable and
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 265
pennanent. This is not a prospect that can excite vegret ; and when
I reflect on the advance 'which our cause has made, the favorable
consideration with which it has been received by the Legislature,
and the emphatic manner in which the justice of our principles has
been confirmed by wise and patriotic and enhghtened men, who
ha\-e taken them up and advocated them, I must say that I am glad
of the result. Our cause stands well, and time and inquirj' will only
help, certainly cannot injure us. Besides, it must be borne in mind
that in so grave a matter as legislation which is to affect the desti-
nies of a whole people for years, perhaps for ages, a period of three
months, or six months, or a year, is no more than so many hours
would be in the transaction of ordinary private business. So grati-
fying, indeed, is the present position of the case, that it is in reality
more amusing than otherwise to note the many shifts and devices
which the Public School Society have been led to adopt, one after
the other, with the hope of defeating us. But they were met on
every point, and failing in everything else, they at last were reduced
to such extremity that their final efforts were spent in endea^'oring
to show that the applicants to the Legislature were Catholics, and
therefore not entitled to any consideration ! This was their last
great effort — you were Catholics.' [Cheers and great laughter.]
So desperate did their cause become, even in their own estimation,
that no, means were deemed by them too vile or despicable to be
resortea to, in order to preserve their power. Charges were fabri-
cated, and circulars, containing the most gross and contemptible
untruths respecting Catholics and their tenets, were industriously
prepared and distributed amongst the members of the Senate, with
the hope of influencing their decision. I do not say that the Trus-
tees of the School Society were themselves personally the distrib-
uters of these slanders, but — to give you a sfiecimen of what was
done — their agent, or one of their agents at Albany, was detected
placing on the desks of the senators — what think you ? why, an
absurd and abominable malediction which they put forth as the
Catholic form of excommunication, but which, in fact and in truth,
was nothing more than a pure fabrication of Sterne, witten for his
own amusement, in his book called Teisteam Shandy ! And these
high literary gentlemen — these self-constituted, peculiar, exclusive
dispensers of light, and knowledge, and education, were either so
ignorant as not to know the true character and origin of the docu-
ment which, they so industriously circulated, or, knowing its char-
acter, they were so bigoted and careless of honor, and truth, and
justice, and good principle, in their anxiety to forward a bad cause,
that they did not hesitate to give the falsehood currency. What
must be thought of conduct like this ? when men of acknowledged '
standing and influence — men educated and enjoying a high position
in society by their character and affluence — could descend to base
artifices that place them on a level with those who brought Maria
Monk into the world — not the living Maria Monk — but the infa-
mous book kno-vv a by her name which has been sent abroad, carry-
266 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
ing poison and falsehood into the bosom of every family where it
could be introduced.
But this was only in keeping with the whole system of warfare
that has been opposed to us. When we were before another tribu-
nal, instead of meeting the question fairly, it will be remembered
how every nook and corner was searched, and what dusty tomes
were produced to prove— what ? Nothing ; but to create, if possible,
a sectarian prejudice against the acknowledgment of our rights.
Some even went so far as to tell you openly to your face that they would
rather be infidels with Voltaire, than be such as you ; and yet, with
this declaration still sounding in your ears, they will ask you to
commit your children to their charge. And how do they ask you ?
They will send round their agents — agents of Tract Societies— as
has been proved at Albany — who, when they, come to your house,
will take the child, and leave a tract. And all this, they will tell
you, is nothing sectarian. But we say that it is, and we know, and
every one knows, that it is ; and it is to all this sectarianism which
is inseparably interwoven with their system — these underhand at-
tacks upon the faith of our children — that I object and ever shall
object.
I feel, Mr. President, that in viewing this subject I can divest my-
self of all prejudices. I feel that I should sin and offend against God
if I should impute to any sect or denomination, tenets or principles,
or practices, which thej^ themselves would repudiate and deny that
they held or observed. And I feel and know that I should be want-
ing in charity, the most essential of Christian virtues, if I could per-
mit myself to infringe upon, or to do any violence to, the rights of
another, because he belonged to a different communion from that to
which I was attached. I mistake myself, or I would be as zealous
and sincere in advocating the rights of any other denomination —
Methodist, or Episcopalian, ox Presbyterian, or any other — which
should be placed in circumstances similar to those in which we are
now situated. And it is this principle of general and equal protec-
tion for all, which you are now seeking to maintain, and which, I
trust, shall upon every occasion continue to animate you. [Great
cheers.]
But have we been met in a similar spirit ? We have not. That
Society which has so perseveringly opposed every effort which we
have made for redress, has abundantly earned for itself that epithet,
which has been often applied to it, of a soulless corporatian, and has
used every artifice and nreans in its power to vilify and defame us
and our principles. Yes, defamation is the term. I do not say
they have done it knowingly. That is not a point for me to deter-
mine. But they have defamed us. I a\er it and insist upon it —
the have defamed us with their extracts from Teisteam Siiastdt
and other documents of an equally high literary character, credit-
able to the liberality' and the pretensions to learning and knowledge
of a body so ambitious to be the sole instructors of the youth of the
city. And I challenge them to meet me and prove that what they
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 267
have laid to our charge has any foundation in truth, or is anything
else but defamation. [Loud cheering.]
I did desire to refer somewhat in detail to the remonstrances and
other matters submitted by the Public School Society to the Senate,
on this subject ; but owing to the late hour at which Ave have re-
ceived them, I have been unable to examine them with that attention
which would be necessarJ^ One of their principal arguments haa
been, that corporations have been sometimes found very serviceable
in assisting the administration of the affairs of government, and
therefore they, the Public School So'ciety, are a useful and necessary
agent; and they have gone on, reasoning by parity, and have cited
the cases of an almshouse — institutions for the deaf and dumb — and
a lunatic asylum — as instances in which corporations have been en-
trusted with the discharge of certain duties. These gentlemen then
would have it believed, that you are as lunatics— that the people of
the city of New York are as the deaf and the dumb, and the insane,
and incapable of managing their own affairs. [Cheers and laughter.]
The poor of the city who become inmates of the almshouse, have
trustees or guardians appointed to administer to their wants, and
therefore you also must have trustees. But even admitting the cor-
rectness of the premises of the Public School Society on this point,
there is no analogy between the cases. The tenant of the almshouse
enters there to receive benefits accruing from taxes to which he
does not contribute, while you, for whom the Public School Society
desire to act, are tax-payers and are left, under their system, without
any^voice in the management or disposition of funds to which you
have contributed. That there should be representation wherever
there is taxation, is one of the most essential rights secured by the
institutions of our country, but the Public School Society would,
with respect to you, subvert that important principle.
The whole matter now stands in this position. At the commence-
ment, the great alarm i-aised, was, that the admission of our claim
would be a step towards the union of Church and State. And if
those who opposed us upon that ground were sincere in it, I respect
them for their opposition ; for there is nothing which e^•ery patriot
should feel to be a more imperative duty than to resist to the utter-
most any attempt to introduce measures tending to so disastrous a
result. But we denied .and disproved the justice of that allegation.
The charge of Church and State is now no longer heard, and they
appear only to labor to prove that we are Catholics, and, as such,
unworthy to be heard.
But it is not now with the city of New York a mere question
whether or not the Catholics shall be allowed to participate in the
blessings of a common school education, but whether there shall be
any public education at all allowed in this city except such as shall
be under the absolute and exclusive control and dictation of this
Public School Spciety. We did not ask to be made the recipients
of any of the public money. We desired to leave this in such hands
as the law might designate, and that our schools should be subject
208 AEOHBISI-IOP HUGHES.
to the control and supervision of the pvojJer authorities, and be con.
ducted conformably to the laws of the State. We oifered everything
that could be in reason desired. But no. The Public School Soci-
ety interposed. They would allow of no rival. They will not par-
take of a divided empire — Aut Ccesar, out JSTvUus. They will be
Csesar or nothing. And if we will not take just such an education,
as they will choose to give us, we are to have none at all. This is
the alternative to which they would compel the people of this city
to submit. You must submit your children to the discipline of the
School Trustees, or they shall be brought up in ignorance.
But I can look through and beyond this contest ; and, but a short
distance in the future, I can see him Avho is but now a child — one
of those who are shut out from the light of knowledge by the intol-
erant system of this Public School Society — I can see him, but a few
years hence, a young man sunk in crime and iniquity, for which they
who deprived him of his rights will be yet held answerable to the
Justice of God, which they have disregarded and forgotten in the
spirit of unfeeling exclusiveness, that makes them cling pertina-
ciously to the power which they have acquired. I can see that
young man brought up by the constable, or other officer, to answer
for offences, for which others are more heavily responsible than be.
And when asked by the Judge, what he had to say why he should
not suffer the penalty of the law which he has violated, he might,
if capable of tracing consequences back to their causes, reply to the
interrogatory, " Yes, I have much to say. I am here to answer for
offences for which I am not so much to blame as are those who have
darkened my path and left me defenceless amid temptations. When
a child, poor and indigent, I was deprived of the common benefits
of education — of that 'common right which my countiy had provided
and had intended that I should enjoy, and which would have pre-
ser\'ed me from the ruin into which I have now fallen. But I was
neglected. I grew up in ignorance, and my heart, where the fair
flowers of virtue should have been sown and cultivated, was suffered
to run to waste until the weeds of vice sprung up there rank and
luxuriant. And all this was the result of an unhappy controversy
between my parents and those who had obtained the power to dis-
pense, according to their discretion, the public blessings of educa-
tion. My parents liad conscientious objections, whether reasonable
or unreasonable, to the peculiar teachings which were prescribed.
They would not accept of an education for their children such as
was offered, and in this they acted according to what they consci-
entiously believed to be the dictates of duty. But the agents of the
public bounty of the State would tolerate nothing besides. They
would either enforce their own peculiar system of education, or
leave me destitute of any. And now, I am the vicTrsr. I stand
arraigned for crimes which had their origin in the destitution and
mental darkness to which I was then consigned — crimes, the guilt
of which should rest — not on me, or at least, not on me alone — but
on those who preferred to see the moral blight and desolation of this
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 269
heart, than to part with the least of their pretensions, or the small-
est portion of that power which they grasped with a spirit so relent-
less and uncompromising." [Loud cheers.] All this he might say
and more ; and I have presented to you in this picture no fancifu'
description. It is one which the realities of life would every da}
abundantly justify.
We have, however, the hope now of redress near at hand ; but
we must not relax our efforts. Of what the details of your future
action shall be, it is not my province to speak, but I would exhort
you to persevere as heretofore. And I would again say to you, not
to mind the clamors which may be raised about a union of Church
and State. There is no danger that any one sect will ever attempt
to marry itself to the State. Such an apprehension would be absurd.
If ever the spirit or the letter of the Constitution of the country
shall be violated in this particular, it will happen, not from any one
sect rising above and lording it over all others, but from the coali-
tion of all the others to depress, first the weakest or most unpopular,
and then the next, and so on, until finally a few of the most power-
ful wijl arise and remain in the ascendant. It behoves you all, there-
fore, and every citizen, to see that all are protected alike — the weak-
est as well as the strongest, but the weakest especially. No matter
what sect is assailed, extend to it, in common with all your fellow
citizens, a protecting hand. If the Jew is oppressed, then stand by
the Jew. [Loud and long-continued cheering.] Thus will all be
secured alike in the common enjoyment of the blessings of civil and
religious liberty, and the justly obnoxious union of Church and
State be most effectually prevented.
I will again recommend to you to maintain the same spirit of
unanimity and perseverance by which you have heretofore accom-
plished so much. You are not now under the necessity of pleading
your cause before a Committee of the Public School Society, com-
monly known as the Common Council of the city of New York.
We had all supposed that when we presented ourselves before the
Board of Aldermen, we really stood before an impartial, disinter-
ested tribunal. But it appears that all the members of the Common
Council are, ex-oiticio, from the moment you elect them, members
of the Public School Society. The organization or composition of
this Society is certainly a singular one. First, a certain number of
persons, who have become members upon paying an annual sub-
scription of ten dollars, elect fifty trustees — these fifty choose fifty
others, and then upon your electing members of the Common Coun-
cil, those members also become trustees ; and thus is this Public
School Society constituted. So that in fact when you went before
the Common Council with your complaint of the monopoly of the
Public School Society, you were preferring your petition to what
may be considered as a Special Committee of that very Society.
[Laughter.] But you are no longer laboring under that disadvan-
tage. The scene is now changed to a higher and more impartial
tribunal, where I feel not even the shadow of a doubt that the spirit
270 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
of perseverance which you have heretofore manifested, will soon ob-
tain the great object for which you have already so worthily and so
creditably exercised it. [The Rt. Rev. Prelate here sat down amid
loud cheering, haviisg been frequently applauded throughout the
delivery of his speech, in the most enthusiastic manner.]
Meeting in Carroll Hall, October 25, 1841.
A MEETING of the " Church Debt Association" was held at Carroll
Hall, on the above date, and the reports of the collectors having
been read, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes addressed the meeting on
the subject of " Church Debt." After which he referred to the
School Question as follows : — I shall now call your attention to an-
other subject — one not precisely of a character similar to that .upon
which we have met here, but still a subject which possesses a pecu-
liar interest for you all. A notice had appeared in the papers, call-
ing you together for to-morrow evening, at this place, and this no-
tice had appeared with my consent ; indeed it was published by my
direction. But between the time of sending that notice for public-
ation and its appearance, or rather after its publication, measures
were taken in another quarter, with the avowed purpose of attaining
the same end which the contemplated meeting was designed to pro-
mote ; and representations were made to me by which (without at
all losing .sight of the object, however) I was persuaded to relin-
quish the Intention which I had formed of holding the meeting. I
have therefoi'e come to the determination to postpone the meeting
to which I refer, in order to see the effect of the measures substi-
tuted for it. You know now, I presume, that I allude to a question
of more. importance to you than any other, the question of the edu-
cation of your children. [Great applause.] By the law of the land,
education is sustained, and I will s.ay,- properly sustained, by a gen-
eral taxation. We are willing and able to bear our proportion of
the taxes which are imposed, but we are also anxious that, if we
bear the common burden, we should share likewise in the benefits
which are to be derived from it — that if we cultivate the soil and
sow the seed, others should not exclusi\'ely partake of the harvest.
It is not necessary to repeat now what has been said at former times ;
but I will only assert, what you are yourselves well convinced of,
that the public system of education now established amongst us has
been tainted from the beginning. And though I am willing to ad
mit, as I always have done throughout the controversy on this sub
ject, that the men to -nhom the education of the children of this
community is entrusted are, in their private characters, honorable
benevolent men, and conceive themselves to be actuated by a disin
tcrested spirit of benevolence in this matter, yet they are under thf
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 2 VI
afluence 5f a bigotry which so neutralizes their perceptions of truth
iiid justice on the subject, that they mistake the one for the other,
and while dealing out something which their bigotry dictates, they
believe that they are obeying the impulses of philanthropy. And it
is this which has in part brought on those embarrassments which
the Association assembled here this evening is designed to relieve
—for while your children were excluded from the public schools —
not, indeed, by a bar of iron placed across the door, but by a more
impenetrable barrier which the internal constitution of the schools
presented, you were obliged to supply the deficiency as well as you
could : erecting school-houses in connection with your churches, or
in the basement, as the case might be, and the means thus expended
would have materially contributed to discharge the debts which
now press upon those churches.
I am free to admit that, when this subject was first agitated, from
a kind of confidence in the justice and liberality of men — a con-
fidence derived, perhaps, from what I felt to be the impulses of my
own nature — what I would be willing to do myself in similar cir-
aumstances, and from my knowledge of the justice of our cause, I
believed that we had but to submit our grievances to those who had
the power, and that they should be redressed. But I was mis-
-aken ; justice was not regarded — -expediency alone was consulted
— our claims were denied, not because they were wanting in justice ;
.''or throughout the whole controversy I never met one, either among
■.he Aldermen of the city, or the Legislators to whom we appealed,
'svho denied the justice of our application ; but it was not expedient
— it was not consistent with some peculiar views or objects that it
.should be granted, and we have therefore been denied. But that is
-ast; and now we come to the present state of the question. It
.las been my fortune to advocate this cause before other tribunals ;
I have pleaded the cause of the destitute and oppressed children
before the Aldermen of this city ; I have sui:)portcd it in another
:'.)rm before the Senators of the State ; and I have now to plead —
before whom? The Public School Society? No! — I have to
PLEAD FOB IT BEFORE THE CaTIIOLICS THEMSELVES ! [Great and
reiterated cheering.] For the time has now come when it is neces-
sary to learn their sentiments, and to know whether they are willing
to vote for or against it ! [Renewed cheering.] The question to be
decided is not the strength of party ,or the emolument and patron-
age of office, BUT A QUESTION BETWEEN THE HELPLESS AND ILL-USED
CHILDKEN AND THE PuBLic ScHOOL SOCIETY ! [Great and continued
applause.] I take my stand by the children ; they are my clients ;
and though they may be deserted by their parents, their brothers,
their connections and friends, they shall still find in me a steadfast,
sincere and uncompromising advocate. [Vehement applause.] You
yourselves are now to say whether they shall be educated according
to their birthright as American citizens, or be indoctrinated with
that mental poison which you cannot and will not, I feel assured,
allow them to receive; whether or not they are to be like the chil-
2'/2 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
dren of the Long Island Farms — taken from your control and
handed over to the government and instruction of a body over
whom you can exert no influence or authority. The question is
now submitted, and the judges are to be yourselves!
Under the free and happy institutions of our country, the power
to redress grievances and remedy abuses has not an abstract exist-
ence. It is something practical — something that comes home to
every individual ; and if any set of men entrusted with authority
should molest and injure others by the evil exercise of their power,
the oppressed have, in time, their turn also, when they can vindi-
cate their rights and divest their oppressors of the authority which
they, had abused. If I am a candidate for your suffrages, I make
known my principles and ask for your support. You must satisfy
yourselves that I shall execute the office which I may obtain so as
not to iu^■ade the rights and privileges dear to you ; or if I cannot
give you the necessary assurances on that point, you will say to me,
" You may get the office if you can, but you cannot have it by my
vote."
At the present moment there is an important issue made up be-
tween you and a Large portion of the community on the one side,
and that monopoly which instills those dangerous principles to
whicli I have before alluded on the other. The question lies be-
tween the two parties, and yovi are the judges ; and if you desert
the cause, what can you expect from strangers ? [Loud cheers.]
My position in this matter is a peculiar one — I stand alone and iso-
lated in a degree — obliged, as it were, to step partially aside from
the direct line of my sacred calling and appear before you on this
subject. But I have found myself imperatively called upon to take
the position which I have assumed for the protection of the religious
riglits of those entrusted to my charge. The question is now refer-
red back to yourselves ; you may desert the cause ; you may desert
me ; but so long as I can command a hearing amongst you I shall
never abandon the ground which I have taken. My duty, at least,
shall be performed. [Tremendous cheering.]
Those with whom we are at issue would instill principles which
are not ours ; and though they may be good and beneficial to those
who can conscientiously receive them, they are not so for us. We
are, in truth, placed in the same situation as the Catholics were by
the Kildare Street Society in Ireland, where, for years, with their
proselytizing schools, they tried the fidelity of that people, who
were never known to, be recreant or unfaithful. The cases are
almost identical. Their schools here are .furnished with copies of
Scriptures opposed to our version : and this, with their stories of
Phelim JM.ighee, their hymns, and their peculiar forms of prayers,
are all alike objectionable, and at variance with that love and rev-
erence for our faith and its requirements which we would desire to
establish in the hearts and minds of our children.
The Bishop then referred to the prospect of success which the
future presented to them— the changes in the minds of many who
THE SCHOOL QtTESTION. 273
tad been hostile, which ho had himself observed during his recent
progress through the diocese, and he exhorted them to persevere
with a spirit of determination and self-respect, and that sooner or
later a triumph awaited the liberal and just principles which they
advocated ; those who were against them should yield in time ;
for reflection only brought conviction to their minds of the injustice
of the present system ; and the day would yet come when the great
and growing mammoth of prejudice and bigotry, that could bear
no rival, should yield to the voice of reason and to an awakened
sense of justice in the public mind. I have been given to under-
stand, the Bishop continued, that three out of four of the candidates
presented to your suffrages are pledged to oppose your claims, and
to sustain this great and influential society. Though I should
deeply regret it, they may, perhaps, triumph ; but all I ask is, that
they shall not triumph by the sinful aid of any individual who cher-
ishes a feeling in common with those children. This corporate body
to whom you are opposed, and from whose insidious influences you
are desirous to protect the principles of your children, is in the field,
arrogant aud exacting as ever, and I wish you, therefore, to look
well to the men who are your candidates, and though suitable in all
other respects, yet if they are disposed to make infidels or Protest-
ants of your children, let them receive no vote of yours.
In this case a simple illustration of the part you are called upon
to act presents itself to my mind. I imagine, when these men come
before you, that I can see, in the legislative hall to which they would
desire that you should send them, something like a fire, and an iron
there red-hot. Well, one of these gentlemen comes and requires
your vote ; but suppose you ask him, what he means to do with
that red-hot iron ? He will be sure to evade the question. He will
talk to you of " glorious liberty and equality and the sovereign aur
thority of the people," and all that ; but press him for an answer.
Tell him you want to know what he intends to do with that red-hot
iron. [Laughter.] "Oh," he will say, "I am a liberal man ; I
intend to do whatever is right; my friends, you know mej do youj
not? Ihelong to the party." [Great cheering and laughter.] But
still press him for an answer, and make him tell you what his id«as
are about the red-hot iron. [Laughter.] He will answer you at
length, perhaps ; and you will then discover that he had intended
with that iron to brand " Ignorance " upon the- foreheads of youi-
children. This is the destiny to which he would consign them ; bu*
if such is to happen, I trust that you,, at least, will have no agency
in setting the degrading mark upon those who look to you as the-
guardians of their rights, as their sole protectors fi-om the ignorance
which is forced upon them unless they will consent to become the-
disciples of Protestantism or infidelity. [Great cheering.]
The Bishop then compared the restraint which the Public School
System exercised on the conscience of the Catholics with the op-
pressive exactions of the Enghsh Church and State policy — an
odious tyranny that had brought misery on a land that knew it not,.
18
274 AECHtaSHOP HUGHES.
but that now drank the bitter cup to the dregs, under the sway of
that fornaidable and relentless oligarchy. They say to us here, con-
tinued the Bishop, as it was said to our forefathers in that suffering
land, " If you are oppressed, it is not our fault ; we give you the
value of your money ; our minister is at his desk, and our doors are
open to receive you ;" and because we will not avail ourselves of a
privilege which conscience forbids, we are to be told we have no
right to complain. But I trust that you are too well convinced of
the truth and justice of your cause to falter now in your determina-
tion to seek redress. You should acknowledge no distinction but
that alone of the friend and the enemy of a just and liberal system
of education — reduce it to the simplest terms possible — the friend
of the free and unrestricted education of your children, and the op-
ponent of so noble a measure of public right and justice ; and you
should remember that if those children whose cause I now plead
are deserted by you, they must look in vain for a friend. Why
should a stranger interest himself to maintain a just principle, if
those for whose benefit it is intended to operate should rebuke him
with their neglect? Who shall say a word for a Catholic, if while
enduring the scorn and desertion of others he finds that the Catholic
abandons him too ? It behooves you, therefore, to have a proper
respect for yourselves, and to evince your sense of the injustice done
to you with dignity, with moderation and firmness, with a just
appreciation of your rights as citizens, and of the rights of others,
and with a cool but determined purpose to know of no distinction
but that of the friend and the enemy of your children's rights.
The Rt. Rev. Prelate then stated that he was only anxious for
the adoption of whatever just and legal measures would be most
likely to promote the good of the object which they had at heart.
He had therefore yielded to the representations which had been
made to him, and entrusted it for a time to other hands, but he
had not ceased to watch it as closely as ever. He should observe
narrowly the progress of those other measures to ■\vhich he alluded,
and which were in progress. He should see that those who had it
in charge should neither be deceived themselves nor decei\'e others.
He had nursed this cause until it bad attained to its present import-
ance ; his vigilance should not now cease ; and if any danger should,
in his opinion, be approaching, they might expect a call that would
be heard throughout New York, and that would rally them in sup-
port of the great principle for which they were contending. But
in every event he would tell them not to forget to ask about the
red-hot iron. [Laughter.]
The Bishop concluded amid the most enthusiastic applause, and
the meeting adjourned.
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 27-5
G-reat Meeting of the Friends of Freedom, of Education
in Carroll Hall, October 29th, 1841.
A CROWDED and highly respectable meeting of citizens favorable
to a just and equitable system of Common Schools in the city of
New York, was held on the 29th of October at Carroll Hall, in this
city, pursuant to public notice. At half-past seven the meeting was
called to order, and on motion Gregory Dillon, Esq., was called
to the chair, and B. O'Connor and E. Shortill, Esqrs., were appointed
Secretaries. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes soon after entered the
meeting, and took his place on the platform, amid the long, loud and
enthusiastic greeting of the meeting. Mr. O'Connor, one of the
Secretaries, read the following requisition for the meeting from one
of the public papers :
" School Question.' — A general meeting of citizens favorable to
such a system of Common Schools in the city of New York, as will
extend the benefits of public education to the children of all denomi-
nations, without trenching on the religious rights of any, will he
held at Carroll Hall, this evening, 29th inst., at half-past seven
o'clock. By order of the C(!ntral Committee."
Bishop Hughes then rose and said —
I am delighted, gentlemen, to find that the forlorn and neglected
children of the city of New York have yet so many friends as I now
see assembled around me. Amidst the passions and prejudices of
public men, it is still consoling to observe that the rights of those
children to the benefits of education are advocated by so many
friends, and certainly if you were to abandon them in this emer-
gency, their prospects for the future would be hopeless. When I
speak of their forlorn condition with regard to education, I do not
mean that there are not schools erected, but that those schools are
conducted under such a system, and on such principles, as necessa-
rily to prevent those children from attending them. The conse-
quence has been as you know, that for sixteen years past, that por-
tion of our citizens represented by this meeting have been obliged
to provide separate schools, while they were taxed for the support
of those from whose existence they derived no benefit.
Those facts determined the origin of this question. Some have
supposed that the grievance had its origin only with the time when
the agitation and explanation of it were publicly commenced ; but
let them look at your efforts for years past in providing education
for your children, and ask themselves whether you would have
gone to the second expenditure to provide a defective and ineflicient
education for your children if you could have permitted them to
attend the schools already provided.
But first I must say a few words in explanationi of my qwo posi-
tion in this matter.
I was in Europe when the question was first brought before the
public, and when I first heard of its agitation, I believed that we
276 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
had but to make a full, fair and candid statement of our grievances
to honorable men., in order to produce an acknowledgment of the
injustice of employing the funds raised by taxing all for the benefit
of a portion of Society, and to the exclusion of one entire class.
[Cheers.] I have attended in this place and elsewhere, meeting
after meeting, during which we have explained the grounds of our
objection to the present system of education. We have uniformly
avoided all questions of a political character, and I have more than
once expressed publicly, as I do now, my determination to retire
from such meetings the moment any political question was intro-
duced. It is not my province to mingle in politics. The course
which I have pursued hitherto in this regard I shall not abandon
now, and I have therefore to request that you shall not look for
forms here which may be usual in meetings of a political character,
but to which I am a stranger, and which I do not desire to see intro-
duced for the accomplishment of the object which we have in view.
The object of this meeting is, after all previous measures have
been adopted, to see what means yet remain in your power for at-
taining the end for which you are contending. As to those means
they may, it is true, be unsuccessful — you may be defeated in your
employment of them. A stronger power may place a barrier be-
tween you and the accomplishment of your purposes. But yet by
acting in the matter, and using those means which you possess, you
will have the satisfaction of knowing that although injustice may
triumph, you will have washed your hands of all participation in it.
[Great and reiterated cheering.]
In this as in all other undertakings, it is necessary that you pro-
ceed with firmness and perfect unanimity. Our adversaries accuse
us of acting with interested motives in this matter. They say that
we want a portion of the school fund for sectarian purposes to apply
it to the support and advancement of our religion. This we deny
now, as we have done heretofore. We have denied it officially and
under their own observation, and were they careful or solicitous for
the truth of their statements they would not have made the assertion.
In this community all religious denominations are supposed to be
equal. There is no such thing as a predominant religion, and the
sma,ll minority is entitled to the same protection as the greatest ma-
jority. No denomination whether numerous or not can impose its
religious views on a minority at the common expense of that minor-
ity and itself. It was against that we contended. That was the
principle frOm the unjust operation of which we desired to be re-
leased. _ And here it may be well to explain the extent and limit of
our claim.
In this country all things are affected or decided by public opin-
ion, and public opinion itself is sustained by two opposite elements
— truth and falsehood. There is nothing more powerful than false-
hood, except truth alone. The enemies of our claim were not igno-
rant of this, and therefore they have crowded every avenue to public
opinion ^'ith mir epresentations in reference to it.
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 277
It is therefore necessary for us to have recourse to the truth which
they suppress or disguise. "We do not aslc for sectarian schools.
We do not ask that any portion of the public money should be con-
fided to us for purposes of education. We do not ask for the priv
ilege of teaching our religion at the public expense — such a demand
would be absurd and would richly merit the rebuke which it could
not escape.
In the Public Schools, which were, established according to the
system now in force, our children had to study books which we
could not approve. Religious exercises were used which we did
not recognize, and our children were compelled to take part in them.
Then we withdrew them from the schools and taught them with
our own means. We do not want money from the school funds —
all we desire is that it be administered in such a way as to promote
the education of all. Now the Public School Society has introduced
just so much of religious and sectarian teaching as it pleased them,
in the plenitude of their irresponsible character, to impart. They
professed to exclude religion, and yet they introduced so much in
quantity as they thought proper, and of such a quality as violated
our religious rights. If our children cannot receive education with-
out having their religious faith and feelings modeled by the Public
School Society, then they cannot receive it under the auspices of that
institution, and if for these reasons they cannot receive it from that
institution, it is tyranny to tax them for its support. We do not
ask the introduction of religious teaching in any public school, but
we contend that if such religious influences be brought to bear on
the business of education, it shall be, so far as our children are con-
cerned, in accordance with the religious belief of their parents and
families.
If the principle be correct, as contended for by the advocates of
the present system, how would the Protestants feel in France, where
they are in a minority ? Would they not complain if the school
funds were expended for the benefit of Catholics only ? Belgium
too, is similarly situated. Now I would ask, gentlemen, if they
could in these oases approve of such a principle ?
It is needless for me to recapitulate what were the grounds which
we put foi'th. We stated our objects candidly and respectfully.
But the advocates of the present system raised the cry of sectarian-
ism, against us. Misrepresentation after misrepresentation went
forth and produced their efiect. I have said that there is but one
thing stronger than misrepresentation, and that is truth. But in
this case truth was so overlaid by the multiplicity of these reckless
assertions that it was almost entirely lost sight of. [Cheers.]
I need not refer, in corroboration of this, to the last act of that
Society before the honorable Senate, when they placed on the desk
of every senator a vile fiction from the pages of Tristram Shandy,
declaring it to set forth those principles which it was asked should
be propagated at the public expense. But it did not defeat our
claim- on the contrary we had reason to exp,ect a favorable result
278 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
frora the wisdom and deliberation of that honorable body, — ^but time
was required by those who were strangers to the subject to examine
into it, and then came the close of the session, and it was in conse-
quence postponed to another period.
By the aid of such means as I have referred to, they have through-
out labored to defeat our application. When the corporation had
the matter under consideratiop, clergymen were called before the
Council — statements and opinions were obtained from legal gentle-
men, and all who had information on the subject were requested to
communicate it ; but beyond and above all this, slanders were re-
sorted to, that the dominion of the system might be triumphant and
perpetual.
We have, it is true, a powerful coalition to contend with. The
public press has gone forth, teeming with misrepresentation, excit-
ing odium, and endeavoring to blacken our cause ; and not long
ago, too, their legal advocate undertook to strengthen their position
by his appeal to the prejudices of the public mind, — but in that,
also, he has signally failed. Out of their own circle of friends, their
influence has not been much felt. It is acknowledged by gentlemen
opposed to us in religion, that our claim is rightful, and, if perse-
vered in, must be successful. [Cheers.] And, I have the pleasure
to assure you, that however bigotry and intolerance may prevail, it
is not universal. There is a feeling in our favor, not among the
laity only, but even among many of the clergy of other denomina-
tions there are men who acknowledge the justice of our cause, and
contend with us that it is wise policy to diffuse the blessing of edu-
cation to the extent of the entire population. [Cheers.]
Bishop Hughes here spoke of the incalculable benefits to be deriv-
ed from a radical modification of the Public School system, and
continiied — We now pass from the second stage to the consideration
of the present position of the question^ We first laid our case be-
fore the Common Council. They disposed of it in a manner with
which you are familiar. We then applied to the Legislature. It is
now in the order of things to be referred to yourselves. [Cheers.]
But how deeply is the question covered over ! how followed up by
other questions ! how gigantic the influences which have been em-
ployed to arrange the matter in such a way that you could' not choose
for yoursehes — that you would be left no alternative but to select
friends of the present system ! [Cheers.] You are now to decide
whether your children shall be educated as others shall prescribe—
receive instruction from such books as are repugnant to your reli-
ious feelings, and whether you shall be constrained to give your
voice in favor of those who would perpetuate such a state of things.
And here sec the effect of our admirable system of laws. We have
it in our own power to remedy the evils of which we complain. It
may truly be said to be a government of the people— based as it is
on just and adequate representations, founded on !j principle in
-which there is an implied contract, or what may be called an implied
contract between the voter and the voted for. But in relation to
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 2/9
the candidatos who have been placed in nomination for your suffrage
at the present time, marlc the cunning of the gentlemen opposed to
you. They have so managed it that those candidates, if elected,
would go to the Legislature pledged to oppose your claim, so that
when the representatives are assembled at Albany, it may be said
that if you voted at all you voted in favor of that to which it
has been said you were opposed — that you were satisfied with the
schools of the Public School Society as they are, — that in your judg-
ment those schools inculcate the proper amount of moral precept, and
religion as we were once told, in just the " legal quantity." [Cheering
and laughter.] The time, then, has now arrived, when the fathers and
the brothers and the uncles of the children who are excluded from
those public schools should pass judgment on the evils of the pres-
ent system. There are those who overlooking the evils of which we
complain, speak of it as a system admirably calculated to diffuse the
benefits of education, with its one hundred schools, its three hundred
teachers, and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. It
may be and no doubt is so for those who may be permitted to enjoy
the advantages which it affords — to us they are of no benefit. But
you are accused of not being sincere in your objections, and notwith-
standing the fact of your being obliged to supply and to suffer under
the inconvenience of a miserable and defective system of your own,
they assert that you were perfectly satisfied with their schools until
I, or some other, undeitook to excite your discontent and that the
objections whi(5h were made were entertained principally by the
clergymen. The absurdity of such statements, however, is so
apparent as to need no refutation. Why, I may ask, do you resort
to poor schools to educate your children and to a farther tax upon
your private means after paying your contribution to the public
fund, if you have not cause of complaint. [Cheers.]
There is another view of this question which it is prudent not to
overlook. It is tjiis — you may observe that if a public man should
advocate your cause, that man immediately receives a reproof from
the friends of the present system ; he is certain to encounter all the
animosity of personal and embittered opposition. Both here and in
Albany, if a man stands up for your rights, he is marked and frowned
upon. What is the object of the efforts made to blast men who ad-
vocate your just claims ? Is it because enmity is felt towards them?
No ! it is not that alone. But it is to teach all public men this les-
son for the future — that it is dangerous to befriend you ! — that they
must not stand up for justice when justice is not popular. [Tremendous
cheers.] It is intended to be a beacon — a warning — to public men,
who dare raise their voice in behalf of an oppressed class of society,
that when they do so they may expect their downfall. [Great and
renewed applause.-]
But I call upon you to resist this Public School System, whether
you are sustained by public men or not. You are called upon to
join with your oppressors, and they leave you no alternative in vot-
ing, It may appear uncommon — it may seem to be inconsistent
280 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
with ray character that I should thus take an interest in this matter ;
and I should not, were it not a sabject of extraordinary import. But
there has been an invasion of your religious rights, and, as the spir-
itual guat 3ian of those now before me, I am bound to help their
cause. If you are taxed, you must be protected. [Cheers.] Were
the tax sj imposed that each denomination might receive the
benefits of its own quota, the case would be fair enough. We are
willing to have any system that' operates equally ; but we will never
submit to a direct violation of our rights, and an appropriation of
the school fund in such a manner that we may not participate in its
benefits. Though our opponents may now succeed, that will not
end our resistance. We will continue to interrogate the candidates
as to whether they intend to oppress our' children. We will ask
them if they mean to perpetuate the present system ; and if so, we will
say to them, " You may go to the Legislature, but others will have to
send you, not we." [Long-continued cheers.] Be not ashamed of so
doing, for who will be your friends, if you are not true to yourselves?
Act for yourselves, and you will have a shield of protection.
You are called upon to use that protective shield, for how can
representatives be more friendly to you than you are to yourselves ?
How can you expect men to stand up for you, when the very per-
sons who become advocates of your cause are marked out to be
neglected, dropped and despised even by the people for whom they
risked their reputation? How can you expect another man to do
right merely for your sake ? There is but one course for you to
take : stand up for yourselves, and, I will be bound for it, public
men will soon come to your aid ! [Loud and long-continued cheer-
ing]
Experience tells us that to all the great questions agitated in this
country, there are two sides ; and in the history of this one we have
evidence of the fact. . I do not consider the question as it regards
parties or men. I only speak for and advocate the freedom of ed-
ucation and the men who stand up for it. I appear as the friend of
him who would give justice to all classes. [Cheers.]
We have entirely kept out of sight all mere party distinctions,
and have looked among public men for those who had just views of
what we regard as pur undeniable rights. "We have now resolved to
give our suffrage in favor of no man who is. an enemy to us and
the recognition of those rights, and to support every friend we can
find among men of all political parties. [Great applause.] Among the
candidates nominated upon one side, we could find but one advocate
and he a triedfriend. As a public man he dared to do what he con-
ceived to be his duty ; we can never cease to remember the friendly
act of that distinguished gentlemen. [Thunders of applause.] We
were in his case determined to show that we were not incapable of
gratitude, and to hold out the inducement to any other individual in
ins situation, that if he supposed he risked some blame for advocat-
ing our cause, we would never apply to him the scorpion whip of
political ingratitude. [The most deafening applause.] When ingrati-
THE SCHOOL QUESTIONS'. 281
lude was discovered in a man's associates it was painful enougli, but
when coming from men, for whose welfare and rights the penalty of
public censure had been bravely risked, there was in the chastise-
ment a bitterness which could not be described. That gentleman
has thought proper to decline his nomination, and excepting his we
do not find one solitary name of an individual on that side, who
has not been proclaimed as pledged and bound to protect the pro-
sent oppressive system of which we complain. And can you vote
for such individuals ? ISTo ! You are for once to stand up for your-
selves ; for neither in honor nor in principle, nor in conscience, can
you now vote for those whom you already know are prepared to do
you injury, [Vociferous applause.] Let me illustrate your position
by supposing a case. If there be a street to be run in a certain direc-
tion of the city, and its course, if adopted, will invade your property
and destroy your house, on which you have expended your fortune,
and if this matter await the final determination of men to be appoint-
ed to office by your vote, and if they expressly declare that they ap-
prove of this, to you, ruinous measure, should you give them your
vote ? If you would, your case would demand no sympathy — you
yourself exercise your franchise for the purpose of electing to high
places men predetermined to act contrary to your wishes, and in-
volve you in ruin, for which in such circumstances you could
never justly claim reparation. [Great applause.] But you are
determined to act in no such manner. You have resolved to vote
for no man who is a determined enemy to your views of this question.
[Renewed and deafening applause.]
This is all. We go no farther. With political controversies and
party questions I have nothing whatever to do. Such considera-
tions enter not into anything with which I am concerned. But by
m.y authority the only means left us to obtain justice have been
sought, and this organization effected. The representatives of the
neglected portion of the children in the various parts of the city
have met, and have all united for the purpose of arranging a plan
by which they may escape the miserable alternative of voting for
their enemies, and they have prepared a ticket bearing on it the
names of men who are all known as favourable to your cause.
[Great *cheering.] We do not, indeed, entertain any hopes beyond
what we are authorized to cherish, that these candidates will be
elected. But at all events we shall not be chargeable with the ab-
surdity of voting for men who are determined to use the influence
given them by our votes to deprive us continually of the right
which we claim. [Great applause.]
The persons who have opposed us have laid their measures well.
They can use the public press. They can multiply misrepresentation.
And what with their great wealth, and admitted respectability and
powerful influence, they can purchase into their service everything
except one thing — the unpurchasable votes of their victims. [Tremen-
dous cheering.] That yet remain's in our y ossession. And, now, come
what may, one thing I do expect, and that not only from those
282 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
immediately representing this neglected portion of the future
population of New York, but also from liberal men of other denom-
inations, that they will not support men who are onr declared ene-
mies— known to be hostile to our cause. And now let me tell you
for your encouragement, that gentlemen not at all connected with
us in religion — who differ with us entirely on that subject — but who
understand the nature of this question and know the justice of our
claims, have determined that they too will vote that ticket which we
have prepared. [Great apjjlause.] They have seen that our wrongs
are not merely abstractions — that they are real and demand redress
— and that the free and independent exercise of our elective fran-
chise is the only shield left us, and when they see you exercising the
right of the freeman, as the freeman, and not as the slave, they will
come to your aid, and reSpect and assist you in your struggles, and
Mends where you would never have dreamed of them, will arise
and plead your cause. [Deafening cheers.]
It is impossible for me to say anything personally of those whose
names have been recommended to be placed on the list of candidates,
and I would not for one moment urge that they should be placed
there, had I not been assured, on the most positive evidence and
which I could not doubt, that they are friendly to an alteration in the
present system of public education. I know that some of them, it is
said, are opposed to us. But again I have been assured by gentle-
men who spoke from their own personal knowledge — some speaking
for one candidate, some for another, — that by public and recorded
acts, or authorized declarations, all of them, aye, all of them, can be
depended on as determined, should they by your votes be elected to
the position in which they can decide on this question, to support
the justice of our claims. [Tremendous applause.] If, however, it
should happen, that we discover we are mistaken in any of them,
and if after taking him for a friend, contrary to all assurances we have
received, we find him an opponent of our measures, then he has the
easy remedy — he can write to the papers, and say we used his name
without authority. [Cheers.] If any of the gentlemen named take
this course we can supply his place. And I .conceive that he shall
be, bound in honor to do so — if we have been mistaken in him he is
bound to declare it and not perpetuate the deception. [(Cheers.]
Before I calj on the secretary to read the ticket, I will simply say,
gentlemen, that the decision of this night on it, is to be final, and
without any expression of individual opinion as to the merits and
demerits of those names, which will be read. As I already remarked,
I am not acquainted with any of these individuals ; but they
have been selected by gentlemen as much interested in this question
as I am ; and_ now, gentlemen, if you are unanimously determined
to convince this community that you are sincere, and really in earn-
est— that you sincerely feel that there is a bona fide grievance of
which you complain and wish redressed, you will support the
candidates thus offered for your choice, because if you do not you
have no alternative left but that of voting for the declared enemies of
THE SCHOOL .QUESTION. 283
youv right s. I will now request the secretary to read the names
placed on the ticket, of that ticket I have aiDproved. It presents the
names of the only friends we could find ali-eady before the public
and those whom, not being so prominently before the public, we
have found for ourselves.
The Secretary then read the following list: — Senators, Thomas
O'Connor, J. G. Gottsberger ; Assemhly, Tighe Davey, Daniel C.
Pentz, George Weir, Paul Grout, Conrad Swackhammer, William
B. MacLay, David R. F. Jones, Solomon Townsend, John L.
O'Sullivan, Auguste Davizao, William McMurray, Michael Walsh,
Timothy Daly. Each name was received with the most deafening
and uproarious applause, and three terrifiij cheers were given at the
close on the subsidence of which the Bishop proceeded.
You have now, gentlemen, heard the names of men who are wiU-
ing to risk themselves in support of your cause. Put these names
out of view, and you cannot, in the lists of our political candidates,
find that of one solitary public man who is not understood to be
pledged against us. What, then, is your course ? You now, for the
first time, find yourselves in the position to vote at least for your-
selves. You have often voted for others, and they did not vote for
you, but now you are determined to uphold with your own votes,
your own rights. [Thunders of applause, which lasted several min-
utes.] Will you then stand by the rights of your ofiTspring, who
have for so long a period, and from generation to generation, suffered
under the operation of this injurious system ? [Renewed cheering.]
Will you adhere to the nomination made ? [Loud cries of " we will,"
" we will," and vociferous applause.] Will you be united ? [Tre-
mendous cheering — the whole immense assembly rising en masse,
waving of hats, handkerchiefs, and every possible demonstration of
applause.] Will you let all men see* that you are worthy sons of the
nation to which you belong? [Cries of ''Never fear — we will!"
" We will till death !" and terrific cheering.] Will you prove your-
selves worthy of friends ? [Tremendous cheering.] Will none of
you flinch ? [The scene that followed this emphatic query is inde-
scribable, and exceeded all the enthusiastic, and almost frenzied dis-
plays of passionate feeling we have sometimes witnessed at Irish
meetings. The cheering — the shouting — the stamping of feet —
waving of hats and handkerchiefs, beggared all powers of descrip-
tion.] Very well, then, the tickets will be prepared and distributed
amongst you, and on the day of election go like freemen, with dig-
nity and calmness, entertaining due respect for your fellow-citizens
and their opinions, and deposit your votes. And if you do not elect
any of your friends, you will at least record your votes in favor of
justice, and in favor of your principles, which must not — cannot be
abandoned, and you will be guiltless of the sin and shame and deg-
radation of electing men who are pledged to trample on you if they
can ! [Great cheering.] I care not for party men — their professions
— their cliques— and all that. Bring them to the test, and you find
gr<3at promises — lean performances. It is time that you should con-
2S1 AECHBHIIOl' HUGHES.
viiice thein that you, the interested parties hi this great question,
you the denizens of a nation proverbially faithful to every engage-
ment— you will convince them at least, and perhaps for the first
time, that you are not the pliant tools they mistake you to be !
[Loud cheering.] You will have nothing to do with the men who
go to the Senate and Assembly, pledged to act against you ? [Loud
cries of " no, no, no ;" " that we wont !" and great cheering.] They
may find votes enough to send them — [a voice, " no, they shan't !"]
let them go ! But they will, in that case, be obliged to confess that
they were sent by your enemies — let them do the work of their mas-
ters ! [Laughter and cheers.] I ask then, once for all — and with
the answer let the meeting close — will this meeting pledge its honor,
as the representative of that oppressed portion of our community,
for whom I have so often pleaded, here as well as elsewhere — will
it pledge its honor that it will stand by these candidates whose
names have been read, and that no man composing this vast audi-
ence will ever vote for any one pledged to oppose our just claims
and incontrovertible rights ? [Terrific cheering and thunders of
applause, which continued for several minutes, amid which Bishop
Hughes resumed his seat.]
Silence having been at length restored, the ticket was adopted by
acclamation, and the immense assemblage adjourned in the most
peaceful and orderly manner.
ADDRESS TO BISHOP HUG-HES.-HIS REPLY.
G-reat Meeting at "Washington Hall of Catholics and others
favorable to an alteration in the present Public School
System, November 16th, 1841.
"The public mind, for two weeks past," says the Freeman's
Journal of Nov. 20th, 1841, "has been plied on the subject of Bishop
Hughes and the School Question, with every description of news-
paper rhetoric, from the dull calumnies of the hypocritical Sun, and
the worthless outpourings of a still lower and more malignant
vehicle, to the fi-antic falsehoods of the JSFew Era, the Journal of Com-
merce, the Commercial, and other similar organs of bigoted cliques
and interested politicians. No vengeance seemed too heavy to be
invoked by those pure and moral censors upon the head of him who
had warned a people, whom he was bound to protect, to beware of
the political leaders who had become the partisans of an intolerant
monopoly, notorious as the irreconcilable foe of their and their chil-
dren's rights. A clamorous outcry of proscription and denuncia-
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 285
tion was raised, such as had never before, perhaps, been witnessed
in this city. 'The, State was in danger' — 'the Bishop was aiming
at the subversion of the Constitution, and effecting a union between
the State Government and the Catholic Cliurch.' These and many
other allegations were daily and hourly sent abroad upon the wings
of the press ; and the affrighted public had many grave homilies
and prophetic warnings read them on the subject of the dread feuds
and murderous outbreaks that would inevitably ensue, if the Catho-
lics would not submit to let their children be taught either Protest-
antism or infidelity, as it should please the Public School Society, in
the plenitude of its wisdom and benevolence, to decree. Another
string was harped upon, too — the Catholics were addressed by the
several organs of the Holy Alliance, who seemed to have just made
the discovery that there was a great body of intelligent and liberal-
minded Catholics in the city, and aW these the monopolists declared,
in the most self-satisfied manner, would not, they were sure, sustain
the Bishop — he was utterly alone, if the veracious soothsayers were
to be believed. But an early check was given to the delusion.
TWETY-TWO HUNDRED FREE AND INDEPENDENT VOTERS, breaking
loose from the trammels of party attachment, and giving their suf-
frages to the INDEPENDENT TICKET that luos Only nominated four days
previous to the election, startled the calumniators and exposed to the
world how baseless were all their accusations, and how impotent
were all their threats and denunciations. But the friends of justice
and equal rights, aud especially the Catholic citizens of New York,
were determined to give, if possible, a still more emphatic denial to
the extravagant absurdities that were so wildly propagated."
A meeting was held at Washington Hall on 16th November, for
the purpose of expressing entire approbation of the course pur-
sued by Bishop Hughes on the School Question. At half-past seven
o'clock the large room was filled to overflowing. There were from
three to four thousand persons present, and a more enthusiastic and
imanimous meeting was never witnessed. Thomas O'Connor, Esq.,
was called to the chair, by acclamation. The following gentlemen
were unanimously appointed as vice-presidents : Francis Cooper,
Bernard Graham, Felix Ingoldsby, John B. Lasala, John Quin, John
McNulty, Peter McLaughlin, Terrence Donnelly, P. A. Hargous,
John Milhau, J. G. Fendi, P. S. Casserly, Gregory Dillon, John
MoMenomy, Hugh Kelly, James Kerrigan, Dr. H. Sweeny, Tighe
Davy, Andrew Carrigan, Peter Murray, James W. White, J. G. Gotts-
berger, Peter Duffy, Owen McCabe, Dennis Mullens, Robert McKeon,
James Olwell, John Mullen, Joseph O'Conner, Daniel Major.
Bartholomew O'Connor, Edward Shortill and Edmund S.'Derry,
Esqs., Avere appointed secretaries of the meeting. The call of
the meeting having been read, the following gentlemen were
appointed a committee to prepare resolutions expressive of the
sense of the meeting, in reference to the object for which they had
assembled, and to prepare an address to the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Hughes, viz. : Messrs. James W. White, B. O'Connor, and Edward
286 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Sliortill. These gentlemen accordingly withdrew for the purpose of
fulfilling the duties of their appointment. During their absence,
the meeting was eloquently addressed by the president, Thomas
O'Connor, Esq., and by Dr. Hugh Sweeny. When the committee
returned, B. O'Connor, Esq., came forward and submitted a pream-
ble and resolutions, the reading of which elicited frequent and
hearty cheering.
After the resolutions were read, James W. White submitted, on
behalf of the committee, and read to the meeting, the following
Address to the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes :
Rt. Rev. Sie :
A numerous body, consisting of thousands of your fellow-
citizens, friends of free and universal education, and favorable to an
alteration in the present Public School System of the city of New
York, have assembled this day at Washington Hall, to take into
consideration recent events connected with the subject. Having
adojjted resolutions declaratory of their determination to adhere to
the principles by which they are actuated, they now desire, Rt.
Rev. Sir, to convey to you a direct and earnest expression of their
unwavering confidence in your judgment, zeal, and acknowledged
ability ; and to testify, thus publicly, to the respect which the fear-
less, independent, and judicious course that you have pursued in re-
lation to this vital question of education, has excited in their minds.
For more than one year past you had been laboriously engaged in
advocating the principle of equal justice to all classes, in the admin-
istration of a system of education to the support of which all classes
had contributed. But until of late there had not arisen any cii'cum-
stances that would call for a special public avowal of approbation of
your great and efficient services in behalf of the poor and destitute
children of New York. Throughout the whole course of agitation
on this subject, jcax possessed the consciousness that you were dis-
charging a high and imperative duty. This ^lone would have been
esteemed by you a sufficient reward, and the only sanction that you
"would have required to sustain you in your efforts. But,, at the
same time, we felt assured that you could not doubt of the approba-
tian, sympathy and gratitude of those who were the constant wit-
nesses to your zeal and devotion, and who have, in all things, co-
operated with you in seeking a redress of the serious grievance
which the odious restrictive system of public education in the city
of New York had imposed upon a large class of citizens. Recent
events, however, require that we should now publicly express that
which we have always felt, and never felt more strongly than at the
present time. .The Puelic School Society of New York, whose
intolerant, usurping, and proselytizing spirit you have often exposed
with so much justice and efliciency, endeavored, by itself or its ad-
herents, w/ien the late election was approaching in this city, to over-
awe the leaders of the political parties, and compel a nomination of
caridiiates for the State Legislature, who, if not pledged, should at
THE SCHOOL QUESTTON. 287
least be distinctly understood as favorable to the maintenance of the
monopoly of the Society in all its odious prerogatives. The polit-
ical leaders feared to encounter the wealth and influence of this
corporate body, and, almost to a man, yielded to the demand that
was made upon them. This proscriptive and unholy league reduced
the friends of justice and of a republican system of education to the
alternative of either abandoning the exercise of their inalienable
right of franchise, or else, by exercising it, to elevate to office men
who had determined to use the power which that office would confer
for the destruction of the rights of those to whom they might owe
their elevation. From this alternative there was but one means of
escape ; it was one of which no feebman could hesitate, under the
circumstances to avail himself; it was the foemation of a sepa-
EATE AND INDEPENDENT TICKET ; and that onl^ course which the
opponents of the present Public School System could with honor or
consistency pursue, was accordingly adopted by them.' Accus-
tomed, Rt. Rev. Sir, to look to you for counsel and aid throughout
the entire discussion of this question, and desirous to secure,
amongst its friends, entire harmony and unanimity in the important
movement that was contemplated, the friends of the independent
ticket requested that you should recommend its adoption at a meet-
ing which was to be held on the subject at Carroll Hall, on the eve-
ning of Friday, the 29th of October. You consented to do so.
Toil rendered that service to the cause in the same manner as you
had before rendered many others. You attended that meeting as
you had previously attended others on the same subject. It was not
a political one in any sense of the word. It had nothing whatever to do,
directly or indirectly, with party politics. It was called solely to adopt
means for protecting the principle of entire eqitality of religious rights
and privileges between all classes of citizens from the impending de-
struction which had been prepared for it with so much corrupt
labor and unholy zeal. And it cannot be denied or concealed, that
your forcible and impressive counsel on that occasion contributed
much to produce the triumphant demonstration which was subse-
quently made — a demonstration which, it is hoped, will teach bigots,
that neither menace nor intrigue can succeed in forcing upon feee
AsiEEicAN CITIZENS A SECTAEiAN INSTITUTION that is repuguaut to
their conscience, and which will also admonish politicians, that when
tempted by a prospect of momentary advantage, they abandon
popular rights and republican truth, and link themselves to corrup-
tion and intolerance, they will find, that the base companionship
will be to them like the poisoned shirt of Nessus, bringing to them
only defeat and ruin and political death — the just reward of their
contemptible servility ! Wc take this brief retrospect, Rt. Rev. Sir,
of these transactions, because we desire to place the facts upon
record — we desire to hold up the teuth in a distinct and prominent
manner before the public gaze, so that it may be seen and under-
stood by all, and that the delusion which many have sought to create
may not be suffered to prevail either with respect to the facts them-
288 AECIIBISIIOP HUGHES.
selves or to our estimate of them. Disappointment in their expecta-
tion of finding us to be mere unresisting victims, -whom tliey hoped
by their deep laid combinations and stupendous effort to over-
whelm and crush for evei", the bigots and their allies have turned
upon YOU as the author of their defeat. They have sought to take
the despicable and loathsome revenge of personality and abuse, that
deemed nothing too mean, or too low, or too foul for its services.
Press after press poured forth its gall and rancor in falsehoods
without number ; and sojie men were found, who not content with
assaults comparatively distant, sought to draw the line of attack still
nearer — within your own household as it were — and hoped to give an
additional barb to the calumny which they uttered by assuming to them-
selves the name of Catholics ! Rt. Rev. Sir, we denounce both classes
of these calumniators as equally reckless of truth and of the principles
of liberty which they effected to revere ; and as to those who sought to
give a peculiar character to their invective by their nominal creed, we
do here in the name op the Catholic body of ISTew York, kepel
WITH INDIGNATION THEIR assumption of a right to speaJc for or repre-
sent in any manner the sentiments of that body. W^e need not, Rt.
Rev. Sir, refer here, at any length, to the great principle for
which we are contending, or the arguments by which it is sustained.
These you have, sir, on many occasions, powerfully demonstrated
and laid before the public. But we should not at this time omit to
repudiate one of the many absurd accusations that have been made
against us. We have been charged with advocating the doctrine of
the " Union of Church and State!" and this, too when a union of
Church and State was one of the identical political heresies against
which ice had so resolutely arrayed ourselves ! The present Public
School System of New York, we esteem as but the old system of a
Law-Established Chuech in disguise — a scheme that seeks, by
the sickly substitute of a State system of education, to achieve the
same end that was formerly accomplished by the establishment of a
State system of Religion, namely, to promote certain religious doctrines,
and ta discountena)ice others. Against this system we have declared
an eternal hostiUty. Against this you have, Rt. Rev. Sir, pleaded,
and pleaded not altogether in vain. It has been an insidious and
dangerous foe to the religious rights and the purity of faith of those
for whose spiritual welfare you are responsible ; and it was to
counsel the adoption of the only means of resistance that could be
used against the most formidable movement that had yet been made
by this enemy, that you appeared at Carroll Hall on the memorable
evening of the 20th of October. Had you omited, Rt. Rev. Sir, to
perform the noble part which you then enacted, we must be permit-
ed to say, that you would have fallen short of the performance of
that DUTY, which those who had a right to look to you for aid and
counsel in so great an emergency, would have expected at your
hands. Having performed it and suffered for it, you are, sir, there-
by DOUBLY ENDEARED TO US ALL, and have earned a brighter and
more endearing honor than any which had heretofore ranked you
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 280
willi tbe most eminent and gifted citizens of the land, or made 70m-
name illustrious amongst the prelates of the church. Your heroic
devo.tion, Rt. li<5v. Sir, shall not be lost upon us. Already, it in-
spirits us to greater energy and perseverance in the prosecution of
a just and righteous cause — and while we tender to you the heart-
felt assurance of our approval of, and gratitude for, your great ser-
vices, we also PLEDGE ourselves, that only with our lives or final
triumph shall we cease to contend for the principle around which we have
rallied — the principle of perfect eeligious equality, and feeedom
OF EDUCATION, EQUAL EIGHTS AND EQUAL JUSTICE TO ALL CLASSES
AND ALL DENOMINATIONS.
The address was received with loud cheering, and, together with
the Preamble and Resolutions, was, on motion, unanimously adopted
by the meeting.
[When this address was adopted, Bishop Hughes was not in the
city, hence the delay in replying.]
Bishop Hughes' Reply-
To the Address which was presented to him from a general meet-
ing of the Catholics and other citizens of New York, held in Wash-
ington Hall, on the 16th Nov., of which the following gentlemen
were officers : Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Chairman ; Francis Cooper,
Bernard Graham, Felix Ingoldsby, Peter McLaughlin, Terence Don-
nelly, P. A. Hargous, John Milhau, J. G. Fendi, P. S. Casserly,
Gregory Dillon, J-ohn McMenomy, Hugh Kelly, James Kerrigan,
Dr. H. Sweeny, Tighe Davey, John B. Lasala, John Quin, John
McNulty, Andrew Carrigau, Peter Murray, James W. White, John
G. Gottsberger, Peter Duify, Owen McCabe, Dennis Mullens, Rob-
ert McKeon, James Olwell, John Mullen, Joseph O'Connor, Daniel
Major, Vice-Presidents ; Bartholomew O'Connor, Edward Shortill,
and Edmund S. Derry, Secretaries.
Gentlemen, — The perusal of the Address which you have pre-
sented to me, as passed at the large and respectable meeting in
Washington Hall on the 16th ihst., has afforded me the greatest
pleasure. The numbers and respectability of the meeting, the tone
and temper of the proceedings, the union of feeling that prevailed,
and the dignity of the language employed to express it ; are such
as meet my entire approbation, and reflect the greatest credit on
yourselves. In replying to it, I shall be as brief as possible, and for
the purpose of greater perspicuity, allow me to divide my reply into
numbered paragraphs.
1. I hold it as a natural and civil rights that, when a class or pro-
fession of men is singled out, denounced, assailed, they should com-
bine for the purpose of self-defence in the same character and
capacity in which they are attacked; and should employ in self-
defence the same weapons which are employed by their oppressors
19
290 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
for aggression. If men are singled out to be trampled on as me-
chanics, they have a right to rally as mechanics, and wield the wea-
pons of assault, for the purpose of repelling the assailants. So in
regard to religion, if men are assailed as Methodists or Presbyte-
rians, as Methodists and Presbyterians they have a right to combine
and protect themselves. And if in consequence of the exercise- of
this right a political or even physical contest should ensue, the cen-
sure of virtuous judgment, whether from the judicial bench or the
public press, should fall on the aggressors against the rights of others ;
and not on those who in consequence of their being assailed are
obliged to stand together in self-defence.
2. But was this the position of the Catholics ? Unquestionably
it was. They were singled out and assailed as Catholics. They go
before the Senate as citizens, petitioners. The official advocate of
the P. S. Society traces them through every disguise, until he brings
them out in their religious character as Roman Catholics. Every
public man who was disposed to make abstraction of their religion,
and to do them justice according' to the common right, was de-
nounced as a friend to the " Roman Catholics." A paper was estab-
lished in the immediate interest of the P. S. Society, calling on the
Protestant voters to be careful and zealous " even in their primary
meetings" to send only such men as would oppose the claims of the
Roman CathoUcs. For a twelvemonths past, certain pulpits of the
city were ringing, Sunday after Sunday, with political sermons on
the school question, and abuse of the " Roman Catholics." The
religious papers of the city were filled with political homilies to the
same effect, against their fellow-citizens who were " Roman Cath-
olics."
3. During all this time of multiplied, various and undisguised
aggression on the Roman Catholics, in their religious character, the
secular or political press looks on in silence. When several strong
denominations attack one that is weaker, in a manner which turns
religion into politics, and politics into religion, the sentinels of our
liberties at the press are asleep. But when that one assailed denom-
ination meets the assault and repels the assailants with the same
weapons which the latter had selected, then the danger of mixing
religion with politics, is for the first time trumpeted in the public
ear! If Protestants mingle religion with politics to abridge the
Catholics of a common right, it is all well enough ; but if Catholics
do the same for the purpose of protecting common rights, then it is
all wrong. Nqw I agree with the public press in the principle, that
one of the greatest evils which could happen to society is the mix-
ture of religion with politics. But in the application of that princi-"
pie, I hold that it is those who first introduce the evil, who employ
it in assailing the common rights of others, and not those who em-
ploy it in their own defence, who are entitled to blame. There is
not an editor in New York who can deny the facts stated in the last
paragraph ; and yet during all this time we heard not a murmur of
complaint, from one of them ! The Post came and proclaimed no
THE SCHOOL QUBSTIOX. 291
tidings ; The Sun was eclipsed ; the Commercial Advertiser gave no
warning ; the American forgot its name, and embodied all the anti-
Catholic feoryisin, without the tjilefit, of the London Times; whilst
the Journal of Commerce was, what I suppose it ever will be, in
morals as well as merchandise, the Journal of Commerce.
4. Nay, whilst the religious papers, such as the " New York Ob-
server" became poHllcal, the political papers, especially the Commer-
cial Advertiser, tlie American, and the Journal of Commerce, became
profoundly religious. Their politico-religious appeals were daily
addressed to this " Protestant country," this " Protestant commu-
nity," against the unfortunate " liomanists." This is known to all
their readers. They cannot, and will not deny it. And yet these
are journals among the loudest to preach of the degradation which
must accrue to religion by any contact with politics. But their
preaching condemns their own practice first of all, and their incon-
sistency in blaming the " Romanists" for employing in their own
defence the tactics which they had employed in aggression, stares
them in the face.
5. But was the measure adopted by the Catholics, in self-defence,
a political measure ? On this point each one must abound in his
own sense. For my own part, I cei'tainly did not so understand it.
I foresaw the act of civil suicide which the Catholics were called
upon to commit by voting for men pledged to defeat the just claim
of this portion of their constituents, on a question of great impor-
tance to the whole community. It would be said in the Legislature
next winter, that "so popular was the P. S. Society in New York,
that the two political parties invited each other, in pledges, that the
great corporation should be continued unchanged, with all its secta-
rian and irresponsible attributes." It would be said that " the Cath-
olics themselves voted for candidates whom they knew to be thus
pledged beforehand to deny their petition ; and it would be inferred
fi'om this, that even tkey were satisiied to give up their children to
be indoctrinated in that vague, sickly, semi-infidel Protestantism
which prevails in the public schools." If they had voted for such
candidates, would not every man of spirit despise them for their
pusillanmity ? And if after having done so they sent a petition to
the Legislature, would they not deserve to have it contemptuously
rejected the moment it was known to have been sent by men who
returned, as their representatives, candidates whom they knew at
the time to be pledged against it ?
6. Thus, then, they selected names not pledged against them, as
men of common sense in their situation should do. The measure
was not of their choice. It was forced on them. Their adversaries
had brought religion into politics against them> There was but one
escape from the circle of fire, which the political intrigues of both
"parties, operated on by the sectarian spirit of the P. S. Society, had
well nigh closed around them. This was to throw away their votes
on fictitious candidates, and leave their adversaries, of both parties,
to fight their own battles. Of this course I approved, and were it
292 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
to be done again, in the same circumstances, I should urge it in lan-
guage quite as strong as any employed by me on the evening of the
29th of October.
v. I have been accused of being a politician. The charge is false
in the letter and in the spirit. I acknowledge and proclaim the
right of clergymen, as well as others, to vote for public servants.
But considering that our ministry is due to men of all parties, I con-
ceive it to be the duty of the minister of religion to avoid being a
partisan of either, but rather to study the things which will soothe
the irritated feelings and mitigate the asperities of political strife.
This has ever been the rule of my own conduct ; this the rule
which I expect to be observed by the clergy of my charge. And
if at any time they or I should appear to deviate from this rule, it
must be for the maintenance of some constitutional principle far
deeper and more sacred to the welfare of our country than anything
involved in mere party interests.
8. The School Question involves a constitutional principle of this
description. A general tax is imposed for education. It is our duty
to pay, and we do pay our proportion of that tax accordingly. But
then the discharge of this duty creates in our favor the right to re-
ceive the benefits of the education for which the tax was levied. Of
this right we have been unjustly deprived, for sixteen or seventeen
years past, in the city of New York. Here the business of education
has been left in the hands of a private corporation. And I believe
an examination of facts will bear me out in the statement, that, in
the expenditure of the public money, in the selection of teachers,
the lessons and coi,npilation of books, and the religious tendencies
given to the tender minds of the children at large, the whole has
been made subservient to the aggrandizement and religious interests
of one or more sects, predominant by their wealth, influence, and
tact in securing to tliemselves the administration of every public
trust by which that wealth and influence may be increased and en-
larged. It was in promoting this end, no doubt, that, contrary to
their own professions, such religious, sectarian exercises were intro-
duced into the Public Schools, which soon drove the Catholic chil-
dren from fountains of knowledge which, for them, were poisoned
with efiusions of anti-popery.
9. It is a great oppression and injustice towards the Dissenters
of Great Britain and Ireland that they are required to pay tithes for
the support of a religion, from whose ministry they can derive no
benefit. A kindred injustice and oppression have been exercised on
the Catholics of New York by the Public School Society. They
tell us, indeed, that it is our own fault ; but this is precisely what
the friends of the church, " as by law established," say to the Dis-
senters on the other side of the water.
When I was at Rome, standing under the arch of Titus, and con-
templating the sculptured emblems of the sacred vessels and candle-
sticks which he brought from the Temple of Jerusalem, I was told
by my guide that during the middle ages (though I have not seen
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 293
it in any liistory) the Jews, who would never consent to pass under
this arch, were provided by the government with a private passage,
at which, however, toll was regularly demanded of them. I heard
the story with regret. Their I'elactance proceeded from an honor-
able feeling, and should not have been avenged on their parse. But
our Public School Society go further. They require that we shall
contribute to pay for the arch, and even the emblems of sectarian-
ism with which they decorate it; and if we will not then pass
through, have to find a thorougfare as best we may.
10. Consequently we were obliged, after paying for public educar
tion, to withdraw our children and provide private schools to save
them from the calamity of total ignorance. " But our means were
utterly inadequate to the task. Hence that state of mental ruin in
which I found so many of the Catholic youth of this city. And if I
have espoused this question of general education with a zeal which
to some may seem extravagant, it is because my own appreciation
of what I owed to my God and to the flock, which is His, commit-
ted to my care, made it my duty to do so. If I have seen the young
son of virtuous, pious, humble parents, an ignorant free-thinker at
the age of eighteen — if I have seen him old in vice before he reached
the term of his minority — if I have seen him a disgrace to his name
and a curse to society after that period — if I have seen him pursue
his evil courses, until he broke the ' heart of the mother that bore
him — if I have seen the daughter, too, whose childhood had been
watched over with care, growing up with some education, but with-
out any religious principles to guide her path in life, falling away
from virtue until she brought the grey hairs of her parents down to
the grave in sorrow and in shame — and if I could trace these effects,
as clearly as moral causes and consequences can ever be traced, to a
defective, unequal, sectarian, and unjust system of education, then it
was my duty to my country, as well as to my God, to call public
attention, by every lawful means, to an investigation of that ruinous
system.
11. But it is asked, "then, what system would be deemed just by
the Catholics ?" I answer, any system that will leave the various
denominations each in the full possession of its religious rights over
the minds of its own children. If the children are to be educated
promiscuously as at present, let religion in every shape and form be
excluded. Let not the Protestant version of the Scriptures, Protest-
ant forms of prayer, Protestant hymns, be forced on the children of
Catholics, Jews, and others, as at present, in schools for the support
of which their parents pay taxes as well as Presbyterians. The P.
S. Society have a right to teach their own children that our Divine
Redeemer " showed uncommon quickness of conception, soundness
of judgment, and presence of mind;" but I deny their right to intro-
duce such degrading notions of his character into the public schools
of the city, and impress them on the children of Catholics and Prot-
estant denominations who believe higher and holier things of the
Son of God. ^
294 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES,
There is another system which the Catholics would deem just and
equal. It is that each denomination should prescribe the amount
and quality /or Us own children of religious instruction which con-
sistently with the ends of the State in providing education might be
incorporated with it. This plan, if it were practicable, would in my
opinion be much safer for the welfare and security of society. But
as it is, we behold the establishment of religion in the public schools,
by the private authority of an irresponsible Board of Trustees, a
thing for which neither the State Legislature, nor the Congress of
the United States, could constitutionally give them a particle of au-
thority !
12. It is this private, clandestine, surreptitious, "union of Church
and State" against which Catholics have protested. It is this which
has driven us from the public schools. It is this for which one part
of the coi^munity pay taxes ; whilst for another, the taxes are turned
into iythes. It is this which for seventeen years past has subjected
the Catholics to double taxation, first, to support the educational
sectarianism of the public schools, and, second, to support private
schools consistently with their consciences. Por no Catholic who
■believes in the truth of his religion, can allow a child of his to frequent
the public schools, as at present constituted, and according to the system
which has prevailed in them, without wounding his own conscience and
sinning against God ; and this he is not allowed to do for the whole
world.
13. There are one or two other matters to which I shall allude.
You refer to the attacks, personal and otherwise, made on me by
the public press. To the statements made respecting me in the
public prints, I do not profess to be indifferent ; and if I were so, I
certainly should not boast of it. But remembering the account I
shall Lave to render to God, and the eternal trusts committed to my
charge, what kind of a creature should I be if I were to shrink from
any duty, through fear of the newspapers or of human opinion ?
Besides, we live in an age and a country in which it is the right of
the public press to scrutinize and judge the public conduct of all
men. If they do so with knowledge, just judgment and truth, no one
has a right *o complain. That the knowledge of the true state of
the case was wanting to many of those who assailed me, I am ear-
nestly persuaded. There was enough to give the coloriug of truth
to the first impression of falsehoods that was published, and this
became the text from which a thousand presses copied. I would not
willingly offend the conductors of the press, more than I would
offend any other class of men, and certainly all the abuse they have
heaped on me has not awakened in my breast a single feeling of ill
will toward them. Their civil right to indulge in abuse is regulated
only by the law of libel ; their moral right must be determined by
their sense of accountability to God. Speaking now, as I may sup-
pose myself, to the Catholic body at large, I would impress on you
with all the earnestness I am capable of, to be cautious in regard to
the character of the papers which you admit into your families.
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 295
For, unfortunately, some of them are of such a character that you
cannot hope to preserve the faith or the innocence of your fami-
lies if you allow theni under your roof? Let the clergy warn their
jlocks against them ; let the people know that they commit sin in
reading them, and greater sin in buying them. Voltaire and Rous-
seau are less dangerous to religion and morals. In each of our prin-
cipal cities the Catholics should patronize some one or more news-
papers, which would supply them with all useful information, with-
out that mixture of blasphemy, obscenity, and scandal, in which too
many of them abound. These have their patrons whose principles
cannot be corrupted by the printed immoralities which they read;
but to see them in the hands" of a Christian, and especially a Catho-
lic, is a disgrace to the Christian name. All my efforts to save the
Catholic children from the dangers that surround them, will be in
vain, if you do not teach them, both by precept and example, the
necessity of shunning the corrupt newspapers of the day as they
would shun plague and pestilence.
14. As to those Catholics (alas ! poor Catholics most of them)
who joined the crusade against the rights of their children and yours,
I feel for them only a sentiment of pity.
15. Finally, gentlemen, I am by no means surprised at the very
general disapprobation which even good men of all religions and
parties have felt and expressed in reference to the subject which
gave occasion to your meeting. If I were a tool in the hands of a
party — if I were a politican — if I brought religion into politics — ^if I
was filling up the measure of any single character which the politi-
cal papers falsely ascribe to me on that occasion, I agree with them
that no terms of reprobation would be too strong to characterize my
conduct. But they published these things— some through malice,
some through ignorance of the truth — all under the fever of one of
those political struggles, during which we know by experience, that
men, otherwise moral enough, forget all distinction between truth
and falsehood, except as either may subserve the party interests of
the contest in which they are engaged. Of course the readers of
those false and distorted versions, both of action and motive, would
assume them as true ; for a false statement in print is very different
from a false statement in conversation. There is no stammering, no
blushing ; no inconsistency or self-contradiction about it. The other
prints that have copied it are like so many additional witnesses to
corroborate the testimony. Men naturally concluded that it was
true, and pronounced judgment accordingly. It was a " union of
Church and State," — " bringing religion into politics," a " Roman
Catholic Bishop in the political arena," etc., etc. Not a word or
syllable of truth in all this ! It was simply a pastor warning his
flock against a politico-religious iirtrigue already sprung upon them,
having for its object to brand the word " Ignorance" on the fore-
heads of their children, as the penalty of not conforming to the secta-
rianism of the public schools. I am ready to prove hy facts that it
was this ; and I defy any gentleman of any party to prove by facts
that it was one iota more than this.
296 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Ah! but it disturbed party arrangements. If party arrangements
are based on iniquity, they ought to be disturbed. But my object
was to protect my flock, not to disturb any party. Neither am I
surprised that the Catholics themselves should have staggered for a
moment under the misrepresentations of the public press. Many of
them had not studied the question. They know, indeed, that I never
meddle in politics ; for in my life I have never advised a man. Cath-
olic or Protestant, as to he w he should vote on mere political ques-
tions. But when they were questioned by their Protestant neigh-
bors on the statements of the newspapers, they were bewildered for
an answer. " It was a pity, so it was," and this was about all they
had to say in reply. Another class of CathoHcs, at least so called,
looked on this question through the medium of the little offices wiiich
they held or expected.
Poor men ! without a particle of true independence, who, instead
of using the faculties of mind and body which God has given them
for making a decent livelihood by their industry, are mere expecto-
rants, hangers on for political favors, which are often granted only
as the reward of degrading services. I do not say that Catholics, as
well as others, should not accept any ofiice they may be thought fit
and worthy to fill, providing they are not degraded by the means
through which they are expected to reach it.
When you take all these things into account, I think your wonder
at my being so violently assailed, will be greatly diminished ; and
your judgment of those who assailed me, perhaps, more indulgent.
As for mere personal abuse and scurrillity, of course I disregard it.
It is a matter of taste, and each one may indulge his palate as he
will. But there is one thing that deserves our admiration. It is
the perfect order which prevailed during the recent election, not-
withstanding the appeals which were made by a portion of the press
to the worst passions of the people, stimulating them to deeds of
violence.
What a glorious spectacle was presented by the freemen of New
York, of all parties, when they were seen exercising their sovereignty,
without violence, without quarreling, without even the interchange
of a reproachful or passionate word ; and this too, under an un-
paralleled amount of fictitious provocation created by the miscon-
ceptions, or misrepresentations of the press. It is creditable to the
character of the city. It is a monument of testimony to prove
man's capacity for self-government. It proves that genuine republi-
canism can present to an admiring world the seeming paradox — ^man
sustaining towards himself the double relation of a subject and a
sovereign. Cherish and imitate the glorious example. Be careful to
respect, even with tenderness, the rights of others. Be equally
careful to know and preserve your own. If, at any time, you should
seek for any privilege, civil or religious, which is not the common
right of all other denominations, you will merit the rebuke which
you wilj not fail to receive. If, at any time, you should basely sit
down, contented with less than the equal privileges which the con-
THE f3CH00L QUESTION. 29'?
Btitution secures to all, you will be cordially despised, as you ought
to be, by your fellow citizens.
Permit me, in conclusion, to offer you my heart-felt thanks for the
sympathy and confidence which you have expressed in my regard —
and the kind manner in which they have been conveyed. You have
not been mistaken in the purity of my motives. Humble as I am,
I would spurn from ray presence any man who would think to make
me apolitical instrument. And I owe it to the public, as well as to
individuals, to state that no such thing has ever been attempted.
My only object was to warn you against being made the instruments
of perpetuating the ignorance, and of course the vice and degrada-
tion of your own children. Ignorance in other ceuntriesis a misfortune.
Here, if the laws were fairly carried out, it would, as it should, be a
erime. If I have done anything which shall tend to prevent that
crime, or abate that misfortune in regard to the rising and future
generations, I shall flatter myself with having rendered a service to
my country and to mankind. And if, besides, I shall have con-
tributed tq rescue even one youth from the ruin in which I see- so
many plunged ; — if I shall save the aching of one parent's heart, I
shall value the gratitude and benediction of that heart as far more
than compensation for all the abuse and misrepresentation that have
been heaped upon my name.
I have the honor to be, Gentlemen,
-With sincere regard, your friend and serv't in Christ,
^ JOPIK HUGHES, Bishop, <fcc,
New York, November 29, 1841.
Letter on the State of Ireland.
The following letter of Bishop Hughes, relative to the condition
of Ireland in 1843, will be read with interest. Though hurried
through that unfortunate country with an almost steam velocity, yet
to his keen and quickly penetrating eye her position and affairs seem
to have offered no difficulty. He saw and understood them with
wonderful sagacity as the contents of his letter will show. Although
written solely to meet the eye of a friend, this letter — more unsuspect-
ed on that aqcount, and coming from so high an authority — is worthy
to constitute a public document.
London, July, 1843.
Rev. and Deae Sie, — Constantly on the go since I landed in
Europe, I have put off from day to day writing to you. Thrown by
accident into the stirring scenes of a most interesting and eventful
period of English, and more esj^ecially Irish history, I ha,\e been
almost bewildered at what is passing around me. One day amidst
the thousands at Donnybrook, listening to the eloquent and patriotic
Liberator of Ireland, and the next in the House of Commons, listen-
298 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
ing to the masters of the world, I might almost call them, attempt-
ing to cope with and defeat one man. They have enongh to do, I
assiii'e you. Never was a cabinet more perplexed than is that of
Sir Robert Peel. But, though O'Connell has the right, alas ! they
have the power, and God grant that the crisis may not end in adding
another blood-stained chapter td the history of Ireland's misfortunes !
Kepeal, the government will not grant until the last extremity —
and nothing short of Repeal will be of much use to Ireland, or will
satisfy the Irish people. But there is one melancholy consolation,
that, until it be granted, Ireland will continue in the eyes of all
nations England's weakness and shame. The Parliament and the
leading journals speak of nothing else, and yet the question seems
to make but little impression on this iron-hearted people. But the
truth is, that the. Irish must depend on themselves. If they follow
the advice of their great leader — keep peaceful — and carry on the
great fight for national independence, not with their hands, but with
their heads, their hearts, their abiding and indomitable will, they
must be ultimately successful.
We landed on the coast of the county Cork on the 28th ult. It
had been my plan to visit Ireland after I should have transacted my
business on the Continent. This I may still do, but my feelings
got so much excited by the poverty and oppression, the patriotism,
the indifference, and the perfidy which I witness in that lovely land,
that it is a relief to escape from the spectacle.
I shall visit France, Belgium, and perhaps Holland, and hope to
set out for my diocese in the steamer of the 1st of October. Rev.
Mr. Curran will, of course, have told you ot all that could interest
you among ourselves in America.
.J< J. HUGHES, Bishop of New York.
LIFE AND TIMES OP PIUS Til. 299
LIFE AND TIMES OF PIUS VII.
A LECTURE, DELIVERED BEFORE THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY OF
PHILADELPHIA, IN NOVEMBER, 1841.
The life of Pius VII. is not remarkable for any of the great and
brilliant achievements which make men in elevated positions distin-
guished and illustrious. He was not, in any peculiar sense of the
term, an extraordinary man. Endowed with a mind in which the
general force of the intellectual powers did not shoot up into any
one single or predominant quality, but in which they were all
blended, each in just and suitable proportion with the others, and
this mind cultivated in the highest degree for the vocation to which
he felt himself called, he presented, in the aggregate, that rich com-
bination of mental attributes which results in a true judgment of
men and things — " uncommon sense," or common sense in the high-
est and most philosophical acceptation of the term. An impartial
stranger to both, and viewing both in the light of the same philos-
ophy, according to their different, I might almost say opposite, call-
ings, if he wished to classify the order of mind to which Pius VII.
belonged, would probably place him in the same list, and even near
to him who stands first, if not alone, in the annals of American fame
— whose name is embalmed in your hearts. But, oh ! how different
the circumstances in which they were respectively placed! The
one chosen as national protector to the young and free hope of his
rising country ; the other elected only to inherit the afflictions of
the Church, and the misfortunes of a predecessor who had just died
a prisoner and an exile.
History would be a dull and unprofiitable study, were it not ani-
mated and enlivened by the presence of Biography. Of the two
parts of which history is composed, one is the mere record, assign-
ing time and place — of the workings of nature and her elements — ■
the fiery eruption of the volcano — the fury of the tempest — the
throbbings and heavings of the terrible earthquake, with their con-
sequences as regards the inhabitants of our globe. These and the
like come from a power superior to man. He has no agency in pro-
ducing them, and but little force to oppose to their violence. In
.•iOO LECTUBE OE ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
tlieir jjicseiice lie stands overwhelmed with the consciousness of iis
own insignificance. They are, indeed, well calculated to awe his
proud thoughts into submission, and elevate his soul to the adora-
tion of his God, to whom the most violent phenomena of nature
recognize subordination and obedience. The man of science, also,
may derive from these manifestations of the powers with which God
has imbued the elements, beneath, and-above, and around us — some
obscure hints and data i\'herewith to build new theories, or correct,
regulate and adorn old ones. To an extent thus limited, the study
of this pari of history is useful. But, then, it is only the action that
is presented ; while the principle and mysterious secret of the
agency are far removed from human investigation.
Putting aside this division of history, all the rest is but the record
of the HUMAN WILL, brought into the external world, obeyed, re-
sisted, struggled against, or submitted to — with its everlasting action
and reaction on the theatre and in the affairs of life. It is in this
department that intellectual philosophy delights to dwell. Here it
is that the mind is allured from the consideration of the event which
is recorded, to the deeper study of the motives from within, that
determined its origin and influenced its course and character ; and
thus we are led to the study of man — the great human problem of
six thousand years — as yet unsolved.
In this department of the subject there is yet room for a sub-
division. It is in the great preponderance of importance which his-
tory assigns to the events, with their minutest circumstances, which
she records, over the living, thinking, reasoning agents who are
engaged in their production. For instance : how comparatively
few, in the annals of the human race, have been thought worthy, in
the estimation of history, to have their names transmitted to pos-
terity. I speak not now of sacred history, but of that which is
called secular or profane. A few orators and poets, a few patriots
and generals — an Alexander, a Homer, a Cicero, a Csesar, best
known, and a few others — have entitled themselves to be enrolled
in the same annals which crowd up the rest of mankind, of all ages,
into undistinguished masses of millions; and thus, nameless, consigns
them, with the waste but of a single sentence, to dark oblivion.
The Popes, however, have at all times been, necessarily, charac-
ters of history. Some of them would have attracted her gaze, and
by the force of their high mental powers, ^von such immortahty as
she can bestow, even without the help of the Tiara. But Pius VII.
was not of this number. His life is interesting principally as one of
the figures moving in the sequel of that splendid but terrible vision
which burst on the gaze of Europe and the world just before the
close of the last century, and continued till the Eagle that rose out
and soared above it was at length taken, in 1815, and chained to a
rock, where he was left to pine and die. It has passed away, that
vision ; leaving us, at the present time, but a few shadows that are
seen mingling, here and there, in new combinations; In that great
drama, Pius VII., both as a temporal Prince and as the Head of the
LIFE AND TIMES OE PIUS VII. 301
Church in all spiritual matters, was compelled to take a principal
part. It was not his to direct the momentous events of the period.
But when his extraordinary prudence could not enable him to evade
their course, his soul was strong and resolute in resisting their pres-
sure. Every dynasty of the continent had quailed or crumbled, at
the distant voice of the Dictator of Europe ; but the Dictator's
voice had no terrors for the Fisherman's successor. Now in the
Palace of the Vatican, and anon in the prisons of France, he is
always the same ; always true to himself, true to the trusts confided
to him. He opposed himself, when duty required it, to the will of
the greatest warrior the world ever saw ; and the victor of a hun-
dred battlefields could gain no conquest over the resolution of a
public captive and infirm old man. Such is the subject I would
bring before you, in the hope of showing you that greatness of char-
acter does not depend on the success with which brilliant . achieve-
ments are accomplished, but it depends on its own intrinsic truth
of being, which is best established by the test of adversity.
Gregory Barnabas Chiaramonte, afterwards Pius VII., was son
of Count Scipio Chiaramonte, and Giovanna Ghini, and distantly
related to Pius VI.
He was born at Casena, in Romagna, on the I4th of August,
1742. Embracing the ecclesiastical state, as soon as he was of an
age to make a choice, his youth was spent in the seclusion of his
profession, and presents nothing interesting as a biographical note,
except it be his success in his studies, the piety of his life, and the
mildi unobtrusive manners which endeared him to his superiors and
his associates. Having joined the Benedictines, he was appointed,
from a Professor of Theology in his own order, to be Bishop of
Tivoli; and, in 1783, was raised to the dignity of Cardinal, and
transferred to the Bishopric of Imola. While many of his colleagues
were overtaken by the revolutionary hurricane which broke out in
•France soon after, and extended itself into Italy, Cardinal Chiara-
monte, by the influence of his virtues and prudence, was enabled to
continue at his post, equally respected by the victors and the van-
quished. Pius VI., a prisoner and an exile, died at Valence, on the
29th of August, 1799. On the 1st of December following, the Col-
lege of Cardinals met at Venice, and entered into conola\e, to delib-
erate on the choice of his successor; and their deliberations resulted
in the election of Cardinal Chiaramonte, on the 1st of March, 1800.
He took the name of Pius : and now, in the sixtieth year of his age,
bowed his head to receive that once splendid Tiara, which he must
wear, if at all, over a crown of thorns.
Here it is that his life, as a subject of history, properly begins.
In estimating the character of a public man, according to the stand-
ard of philosophical judgment, we are to view his course in connec-
tion with the trust which he administers, the end for which it is
confided, the expectations of those from -whom it is derived. Viewed
in this light, the life of a pope is a solitary fact ; in his time there is
none of his class but himself; and if he be compared, it must be, not
302 LECTUEB OF AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
with a contemporary — for in his official capacity he has none — hut it
must be with tsome one who has gone before, whom he is to follow.
Yet this solitary character is not an isolated one ; it is, in some re-
spect, universal, by its spiritual relations with all the parts ^ of the
globe. And since every principal event in the outward social or-
ganization of men is accompanied or followed by its moral conse-
quences reacljing to the inward or spiritual world, the Pope, by his
office, js placed at the point of mysterious connection between these
two ; to watch, anticipate, or modify their mutual action and reaction
one upon the other United with this trust is another ; the civil
government of a small state, by which he ranks, and is considered
as a temporal prince and sovereign. The post is at all times one
of great difficulty, but at the accession of Pius VII. it was surrounded
with unprecedented embarrassments. The hurricane, in the mere
lull of which his election took place, had spent but little of its fury.
It was still careering on its course throughout the social world, and
its progress could be traced by falling thrones and shattered altaVs.
The desecrated temple in Rome was but a sequel" to the crimson
and gory pavements of the Carmelites in Paris. Impiety had been
enthroned in the holy place — the national councils of France, always ■
predominant in her continental influence, had heard in silence, in-
terrupted only by applause, the denial of any God, " save Nature."
The name of Christian had become a by-word of reproach ; belief
■was regarded as imbecility ; new dates invented ; the blessed era of
the world's redemption was blotted out from the annals of the new
order — and the giant of revolution was strained at shaking the pil-
lars of universal society.
Oh ! what an assemblage of momentous events are crowded into
the checkered history of the period which followed, bringing out
men almost as extraordinary as the period itself Decrees issued,
not to be executed — alliances formed, to be riven by the sword's
edge — couriers flying to and fro, from one end of Europe to the
other — the fate of battle turning the wisdom of cabinets into wildest
nonsense — and farther deliberations of cabinets arranging for new
battles, and making the ground thirsty for the blood of coming
strife. These the times, these the circumstances in which Pius VII.
is called to the helm of the Church, agitated, and all but overwhelm-
ed, by the fury of the elements.
The new organization of the States of the Church, into what was
called the " Roman Republic," had but a short existence ; and had
already passed away when Pius VII. was elected to the Pontificate.
But the rapacity with which the rich treasures of piety and art had
been devoured and destroyed by tlie conquerors, and the extortions
of arbitrary commanders and commissions, incident to military in-
vasion, had reduced and almost exhausted the means of the afiiuent,
and multiplied, in a corresponding degree, the miseries of the poor.
To the condition of these his first cares were directed. He ordered
that the price of bread be lowered, and took measures that the sup-
ply should not fail. In the sacrifices which their condition required,
LIFE AND TIMES OF TIUS VII. 303
he set the first example, by narrowing down the expenses of his
household to the strictest limits. He encouraged strangers to visit
Rome, by making every effort to restore the works of art, and
monuments of antiquity. While engaged in these appropriate cares,
the tide of war begins to run again in favor of the French arms ;
and three Provinces, Perrara, Bologna, and Ravenna, are swept
from his territory, to give mathematical form to the new Republic
in the north of Italy. The proximity of this new and ambitious
power, left the Holy See completely at the mercy of the conqueror.
This circumstance led to the first negotiation that took place be-
tween the Head of the Church and the great general, who was then
First Consul of France. Beside the immediate object of the negotia-
tion, each had special reasons for desiring the establishment of
mutual friendly relations. If Napoleon should succeed in realizing
the vision of perpetual power, which already began to dazzle his
ardent mind, the favor of the Sovereign Pontiff would be of in-
calculable importance in cementing and consolidating that, for the
mere winning of which, Ijp had faith only in his genius and his
sword. On the other hand, the Pope saw that the First Consul was
already predominant in the councils of France, and that his influence
would be most important in reconstructing, from the fragments of
its own ruins, the sanctuary of religion in that country. The Arch-
bishop of Corinth (Spina) was deputed to Paris to conduct the mat-
ter on the part of the Pope, and the dispositions of Hapoleon were
so favorable that the principles of an adjustment were mutually
agreed upon ; but the execution of the project as agreed upon, re-
quired, on the part of the Sovereign Pontiff, the exercise of a power
which none of his predecessors had been called upon to employ.
The difficulty was with regard to the Bishops of France. N'one
had been appointed since the Revolution ; and those who had re-
ceived their appointments before belonged to the old order — were
attached to the fallen dynasty — and, of course, were unsuited to the
new order which was about to rise out of the soci.al chaos of the in-
terval. With most of them, the apostolic entreaties of Pius pre-
vailed ; the others procrastinated — the requirement was novel, and
unprecedented in the jurisprudence of the church. The true judg-
ment of the Pontiff did not fail him in the emergency of his position,
between the prompt and sanguine temperament of Napoleon on the
one side, and tardy resolves, and the canonical scruples of the
bishops on the other ; and preferring the . safety of religion to the
ecclesiastical rights of her ministers, in times which demand great
sacrifices, he had recourse to the extreme power of his office, and
suspended from their jurisdiction those of the bishops who had hesi-
ta,ted to resign. Had he not brought energy to the aid of prudence,
in this crisis of the Church's weal or wo, who could tell what would
have been the consequence to religion and to France — nay, to Chris-
tendom and the world ?
The concordat between Napoleon and the Holy See, by which
vehgion was ofiicially recognized, was published on the 5 th of April,
304 LECTUEE OF AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
1802; presented to the legislative body and oiEciall/ promulgated
on the 18th of the same month. As a sequel to the concordat, the
same body received from the government and adopted a series of
enactments called Organic Articles, which contained certam pro-
visions violative of the spirit of the concordat itself. They rendered
the Church almost entirely dependent on the State ; and even con-
tained enactments relative to the exercise of religion and of public
worship. The Pontiff complained of them in an allocution to the
Cardinals, as having been added without his concurrence, by the
secular authority alone ; although bearing on matters of a spiritual
character. He remonstrated, and required that they should be
changed or modified, but without effect. They were invested with
the prescribed forms and incorporated into the national code, as
laws of the State. This never ceased to be a subject of painful
anxiety on the mind of Pius ; while its importance was easily
swallowed up in the weightier and mightier events which soon en-
grossed the thoughts of Napoleon. The liberality and munificence,
however, which he manifested toward tjie Church, in a variety of
cases, induced many to believe that, in the mind of the First Consul
himself, the Organic Articles were susceptible of a less rigid interpre-
tation than was implied by the literal import of their meaning.
These indications in favor of religion, with the hope, also, of being
able to improve them into happier effect by his presence, determined
his Holiness to take a journey into France, which had long been
solicited by many pious members of that afllicted portion of his flock.
But events, entirely unconnected with these considerations, were
now in progress, which furnished him with an additional motive for
undertaking the voyage. These were the yet rising fortunes of
Napoleon. A cadet at the military school ; a lieutenant of artillery
— general — consul, and first of his order, in them all — these were
but the brief resting points of his rapid ascent from the ranks of the
battalion to the giddy heights of majesty and imperial power. The
decree of May 18, 1804, awarded him the hereditary and imperial
crown of France. It was probably in anticipation of this event that
Cacault, the French Minister at Rome, had been recently superseded
by Cardinal Fesch, who, in his double capacity, might best arrange
the delicate project of engaging the Pope to assist in person and per-
form the ceremony of the Emperor's coronation. The rights of the
exiled Bourbons ; the principle of legitimacy contended for by all
that was not France, and much that was, presented themselves as
reasons for refusing to accede to a proposal which, if acceded to,
would be at once offence to all the old governments of Europe, and
would involve him, inextricably, perhaps, in the fortunes of the new
Emperor. But, on the other hand, the unsettled state of ecclesias-
tical affairs in that country ; the marring of the concordat, by the
Organic Articles, which subjected the Church to the will of the Stale,
in so great a degree ; the greater necessity, therefore, to secure the
good will of the Emperor — not to speak of the good which he might
reasonably hope his presence would produce among a people just
LIFE AND TIMES OF PIUS VII. 805
awaking from the wild dream of partial atheism and of general ir-
religion — these were strong and urgent considerations why the invi-
tation should not be hastily declined. The matter was referred to
the sacred Council of Cardinals, and they decided that, under cer-
tain stipulations, it was expedient that he ■should comply with the
Emperor's wish.
These stipulations had reference, for the most part, to ecclesiasti-
cal Tnatters of the gravest importance. But this did not exclude
others that would appear, to us, at least, less weighty ; and in the
ceremonial of audience and presentation, we find Madame de Talley-
rand expressly excepted, "lest" says his Holiness, "I should appear
to sanction, by the act, a marriage which I will never recognize."
The formal letter of invitation from the Emperor himself, was
dated at Cologne, the 15th of September, 1804, and on the second
of November following the Pope set out from Rome. Plis first in-
terview with Napoleon was at Fontainbleau, where he arrived on
the 25th. Throughout his whole journey his presence was every-
where hailed with demonstrations of joy on the part of the people,
and of enthusiastic devotion to his person. At Paris he was waited
upon by deputations from all the public bodies and learned societies.
He had the happiness to receive the submission of the constitutional
or state bishops, and to witness the unafiected religious attachment
of those faithful children of the Church, in that great metropolis, who
had never swerved from their fidelity.
The presence of the Pope in Paris, under any circumstances, in so
brief a period after the Revolution, would have been sufficiently un-
expected and astonishing. Who could have anticipated such an event
ten years before? At that time, the only sentiment of France, that
had any pretensions. to indicate the national will, was one of uncom-
promising, universal, and everlasting hostility to royalty and re-
ligion. , One of its recognized interpreters expressed its object in
the strong but coarse declaration, that the welfare of the human
race would not be complete, till " the last king shall have been
strangled with the entrails of the last minister of religion." Such,
according to the spirit of '93-'94, was its scope, and aim, and end.
And how strangely — how promptly — how widely — it must have di-
verged from the line of its direction, when by its own internal work-
ings, and in the space of ten short years, it invites and welcomes to
its capital, the first of priests, to place the emblems of royalty on the
brow of its own chief, who in one sense might be called the first of
kings !
Napoleon, however, did not require the religious oflices of the
Pontiff. They could not have made him more dear to his army.
The crown was at his feet ; and his own right arm was strong
enough to raise it to his head. The moral sanction of the act, which
would be implied from the Pope's presence, was all that he valued.
The ceremony took place on the 2d of December ; and that over
Pius began to express his anxiety to return, and press the Emperor
for the fulfillment of the stipulations which had been made, as the
20
306 LBCTUEE OP ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
condition of his visit to France. In regard to these, he was to ex-
perience and to bear the most painful disappointment. The restora-
tion of the Order of Charity, of the Christian Brothers, the Society
for Foreign Missions, and of the Irish College in Paris, was all that
his zeal could accomplish. In his efforts to obtain any modification
of the Organic Articles, he was entirely unsuccessful. Of course,
the object of his journey, so far as it could be, was now accom-
plished, and he desired to return. But delays and obstacles, toliim
incomprehensible, opposed the execution of his design. The leason
of these will be best understood from the following passage of his
biography, from which it will be seen how gigantic and how wise,
according to his purpose, were the prospects of the Emperor : —
" The Pope," says his biographer. Chevalier Artuad, " never men-
tioned the name of the high official who proposed to him to reside
at Avignon, to accept a palace in the arch-diocese of Paris, and al-
low a privileged quartier to be established, »as at Constantinople,
where the diplomatic corps accredited to the holy Papal Court,
should have the exclusive privilege of residing. This proposal, afi
first insinuated rather than directly addressed, afterwards repeated
to his attendants and confidants, and to several Frenchmen who were
friendly to the Holy See, led him to suppose that there was an in-
tention of detaining him in France. The fatal words were never
directly pronounced by Napoleon ; but he possessed such a control
over the thoughts and words of men at Paris, that it was riot pos-
sible they should have been hazarded without his sanctipn. It ■\ras
repeated, at least, with so much confidence, that the Pope thought
it right at length to reply to the same official personage, ' It is re-
ported that you mean to detain us in France. Be it so. Yon may
take away our liberty, if you will. All that is provided for. Be-
fore leaving Rome, we signed a regular abdication, which will come
into force the moment we are cast into prison. This act is beyond
the power of France. It is in the hands of Cardinal Pignatelli, at
Palermo ; and the moment you make public your designs, that mo-
ment you will have in your hands only a poor simple monk, named
Barnabas Chiaramonte.'
" That very evening, the orders for his departure were submitted
to the Emperor." Vol. ii. pp. 38-9.
This reply, worthy of its author, set the matter at rest. And now
that ho was to set out, rich presents were prepared for himself and
retinue, and pensions were assigned by the Emperor for the Car-
dinals who accompanied him. These were delicately, but stead-
fastly declined ; and the Emperor having already set out for Milan,
where he was to be crowned King of Italy, Pius VII., disappointed
of nearly all his dearest hopes, set out for Rome on the 5th of April,
1805.^ On his way he had the consolation to receive, at Florence,
the submission and full retractation of all his errors, of the too cele-
brated Ricci, Bishop of Pistoria.
The unsatisfactory state in which these negotiations terminated,
jwas rendered stUl more so by events which, in the regular events
LIFE AXD TIMES OF PIUS YII. 807
of the world, would have been centuries apart ; but which, under
the fiery powers that ruled the destinies of the period, were crowded
into the lapse of a few years. The Organic Articles were extended
to_ the new kingdom of Italy. This naturally filled the mind of Pius
with affliction and grief. Another matter, of a domestic character,
and personal to the Emperor, odfcurred about the same time ; which
was the marriage of his brother, Jerome, to a yomig lady of this
country. This marriage the Emperor wished to have canonically
annulled, and for that purpose diplomacy was plied to its utmost.
It was solicited by the Emperor himself; but it was replied that
tbe marriage, though not according to the canonical forms, was valid
nevertheless, and could not be annulled by any authority on earth.
All these things tended to widen the breach, and increase the es-
trangement.
The war with Austria had commenced, and the Papal fort of
Ancona, seized by the French, under St. Cyr. The Pope proclaims
his protest against the .usurpation ; and is answered, after six months,
by an imperious letter, on the part of Napoleon. This reply of Pius
is rema,rkable for its apostolic meekness and prudence, blended with
firmness and dignity. To another subsequejnt letter of the Emperor,
we may quote the following portion of his reply as a specimen of
their quality :
" We commence with your Majesty's demands. You require of
us to expel from our States all the subjects of Russia, England, and
Sweden, and the agents of the King of Sardinia ; as also to close our
ports against the ships of the above-named nations. You require
us to abandon our peaceful neutrality and declare open- war against
those powers. Your Majesty will permit us clearly and precisely to
reply, that it is impossible for us — not on account Of our temporal
interests, but of the essential duties inseparable from our character
— to comply with these demands. Consider well all the relations in
which we are placed, and judge whether it becomes your religion,
your greatness, or your humanity, to compel us to a step of this
nature.
" It is not our will, it is that of God", whose place we hold on
earth, that prescribes to us the duty of peace towards all, without
distinction of Catholic or Protestant, far or near, benefactor or per-
secutor. We cannot betray the office committed to us by the
Almighty ; and we should betray it, were we, for the motives as-
signed by your Majesty — that is, because the parties in question are
heretics, who can only work us injury (these are your Majesty's
words) — to accede to a demand which would involve us in a war
against them.
" The Catholics who reside in the dominions of these powers are
of no inconsiderable numbers. There are millions of Catholics in
the Russian empire. There are millions and millions in the countries
subject to England. They enjoy the free exercise of their religion,
and are protected by the State. We cannot foresee the conse-
quences, if these powers should see themselves provoked by an act
308 LECTUEE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
of hostility so decided as would be the expulsion of their subjects
and the closing of our ports against their shipping. Their resent-
ment against us would be the stronger, that, in appearance, it would
be more unjust, since we had not sustained any injury at their
hands.
" These are the candid sentimeftts which the voice of conscience
has dictated. Should, unhappily, your Majesty's heartbe unmoved
by our words, we should suffer with evangelical resignation, we
should submit to every affliction, receiving them all from the hands
of the Lord. Yes, truth shall always triumph on our lips ; con-
stancy in maintaining untouched the rights of our See shall reign in
our heart ; we will face all the adversities of life, rather than prove
unworthy of our ministry. And you — you will not desert that
spirit of wisdom and foresight which distinguishes you. It taught
you that the prosperity of a government and the tranquillity of a
people are inseparably connected with the welfare of religion."
(Vol. ii., p. 230.)
The crisis was now hurrying on with accelerated rapidity. The
Papal principalities of Benevento and Ponte Carvo are seized and
bestowed upon Talley);and and Bernadotte. The Pope protests,
but offers no resistance. Alquier, who succeeded Fesch as ambas-
sador at Rome, is instructed to demand, formally, that the ports of
the States be forthwith closed against the enemies of the Empire ;
and the answer of Pius is worthy of his post : " His Majesty may
execute his menace if he will. He may strip me of my possessions :
I am resigned. I am ready, if it be the will of God, to retire to my
convent, or, like the first successors of St. Peter, to the catacombs of
Pome."
This refusal of the inflexible Pontiff exasperated the Emperor
exceedingly, and gave occasion to that angry letter which he wrote
to the Viceroy of Italy, Eugene. It was dated Dresden, 28th of
July.
The tone of this letter foreshadowed but too well the events
which were soon to follow. A French army, commanded by Gen-
eral Miollis, under pretence of opening a communication between
northern and southern Italy, took possession of Rome, and planted
their cannon, directed against the Quirinal Palace. Four additional
provinces were taken from the States of the Church, and attached
to the kingdom of Italy. The Cardinals, to the number of twenty,
were expelled ; and Pius, deprived of their counsel and support, re-
duced to the condition of a prisoner in his own capital. Such was
the state of affairs at Rome in the latter end of 1808 and beginning
of 1809. On the Vth of May, 1809, Napoleon dated, from the camp
at Vienna, the decree, uniting the whole Papal territory of the
kingdom of Italy; and on the 10th of June his standard replaced
the Roman banner, which for ages had waved on the summit of St.
Angelo. To all these scenes of violence and usurpation Pius pre-
sented no resistance, other than that of unyielding endurance, and
the resignation of unbroken fortitude. Of this the evidence is found
LIFE AND TIMES OF PIUS Til. 309
in two documents composed by him at this time ; the one, in which
he pours out the deep tenderness and affliction of his soul, in a pas-
toral letter, bidding farewell to his flock ; the other, a bull of excom-
munication, directed, without naming any one, against the " authors,
movers and abettors " of the violations of the rights of his See.
This he wrote with cannon's mouth pointed against his apart-
ments. Notwithstanding the vigilance of the French guards, it was
posted, and thus promulgated", at the porches of St. John of Lateran,
and St. Mary Major, by a hackney-coackman and his son. The mo-
ment it was discovered, it ^Nas carried to General Miollis, and imme-
diately forwarded, by express, to the Emperor. What followed had
been anticipated. On the 6th of July, Pius, at three o'clock in the
morning, was seized in his apartments, and, without so much as a
single change of dress, thrust into a carriage, which was closed and
locked, to prevent his being recognized, and thus hurried away he
knew not whither. In this way was he kept for nineteen hours
under the broiling sun of Italy, and his remark to the guards, that
if the orders were to carry him to France, dead or alive, they might
proceed, obtained for him only the respite of a few hours. He ob-
tained, on the way to his place of exile, a change of linen from a
poor peasant ; and with this alleviation to the fatigue of a long jour-
ney, and a burning fever, he arrived at length, a prisoner at the
Episcopal palace of Savona. All the official papers of the public
functionaries at Rome were seized, some of the Cardinals arrested
and sent to prison, and the rest summoned to Paris.
This unhappy warfare with a defenceless old man did not inter-
rupt the mighty progress of the French armies in other parts of
Europe. The very morning which saw the forcible abduction of
Pius, from Rome, lighted up the fires of the battle of Wagram,
which led to the treaty of Schoenbrunn, and the alliance with Austria.
From this again resulted another case of difficulty to the Emperor,
in relation to the question of the validity of his marriage with the
Empress Josephine, and his subsequent marriage with Maria Louisa,
of the House of Hapsburgh. The Pope's concurrence in the non-
validity of the former marriage was sought for in every way, but
could never be obtained. The whole ecclesiastical proceedings are
exceedingly curious, and but little understood. But they are too
long to be introduced here. The refusal of Pius to invest with
canonical, installation, until he should be set at liberty, those who
had been nominated to the episcopacy by the Emperor, increased
the difficulty still more. Napoleon had never believed thoroughly
in the word impossible, and his spirit wajB chafed by thus encounter-
ing difficulties which neither he nor his legions could overcome.
His severity was extended to all the friends of the Pontifi", and soon
reached the venerable captive himself. On the 7th of June, 1811,
his apartments were forced, and his books and papers carried away.
He and his household were reduced to the daily allowance of five
Pauls : about two shillings a day. This treatment had the effect
only to give new strength to the resolution of Pius, and new occa-
310 LECTtTEE OF AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
sion for the display of that calm resignation which distinguished
him ; while it served abroad to arouse the indignant sympathies of
Protestant as well as Catholic Europe in his favor. It was, how-
ever soon mitigated, and he enjoyed comparative quiet for some
months after, owing in some measure to the memorable but fatal
campaign in Russia. This was indeed of sufficient magnitude to
draw the mind of Napoleon from whatever might concern the situ-
ation of the venerable Pontiff in his prison. Neither, perhaps, would
it be just to aflSrm that the hardships which he suffered were at any
time fully known or approved by the Emperor. But that he was
subjected to privations, sufferings and ill treatment, which, consid-
ering his rank as a temporal prince, his office as head of the Church,
and his age (being already seventy years), tm-ned this part of his
life into what may be termed the very romance of misfortune,
admits of no doubt ; and the project of Napoleon, to make a new
provision for him, in accordance with the disposition already made
of the States of the Church, together with documentary evidence
bearing directly on the subject, and quoted in the Pontiff's life,
leave it but too certain that, as head of the empire, a large share of
the responsibility of the case devolved upon Mm. The great object
was to obtain the Pope's concurrence in a new concordat, founded
on the principle of profound secular policy, but which he judged vio-
lative of the trusts he held for higher than human ends. This judg-
ment he adhered to with a power of will which was unconquerable.
An offer of two millions of crowns a year is made to him : his reply
is, that the charity of the faithful is sufficient for his wants.
The fatal result of the Russian campaign seemed to mark the
period when the bright and dazzling star of Napoleon overshot its
sphere, and began to fade. The French empire which his genius,
under the guidance of patriotism, as some contend, or ambition, as
others will have it, had extended to the farthest boundaries of many
states, began to be disorganized. Even the kings whom he had
created were not true to him ; while others seized the first hour of
shifting fortune to press upon him and precipitate his fall. But of
all ^Yho were sovereigns when he began to wield the destinies of
France, and who were brought under her influence by arms, there
was one, and only one, who neither yielded to his power nor tri-
umphed over his misfortunes — the meek, patient, but constant and
intrejiid Pius VII. The eye of Napoleon could not but read in the
political horizon, all around, the symptoms of a futurity, in regard to
his own position, Avhich his heart might be slow to believe. At all
events, he became impatient and importunate in reference to what
was termed the obstinacy of Pius. He and tlie Empress waited on
him, with every mark of respect, at Fontainbleau. He set the min-
istry of negotiation by all others aside, and assumed it himself
Interviews took place between the principals themselves, in relation
to the matter, and the Pontiff, now in the seventy-third year of hie
age — worn out by sickness, without a single trusted friend around,
and beset with emissaries on all sides — was induced, with finsers
LIFE AND TIMES OE PIUS YIl. 311
scarce able to trace the lines, to sign, on the 23d of January, 1813,
the preliminaries of a new concordat ; but with the express stipula-
tion that no steps should be publicly taken till he had free and full
liberty to consult with his official counsellors. From this moment
all restraint on himself and his friends was removed. It was imme-
diately proclaimed to France that all differences between the Em-
peror and the Pope had ceased, and the " concordat" made the law
of the empire. Pius saw in this the open violation of one stipula-
tion on which alone he signed. He lost no time in issuing his pro-
test against the violation, and recalling his fraudulently extorted
consent.
All hope of arrangement was now at an end, and the importance
of the negotiation became insignificant amid the invasion which was
rushing on the heart.of the emfiire from all its extremities. On the
22d of January, 1814, the order was issued; and the next day,
accompanied by a single attendant, Pius was on his journey —
although he did not reach his capital till the 24th of May following.
Connected with this event, there is an anecdote recorded in his life
which shows the Christian and forgiving spirit of his character, and
contributed much to swell the enthusiasm with which his return
was hailed by all classes of his people. It occurred on his way to
Casena, his native city.
" King Joachim Murat demanded to present his homage to Pius
VII., and was instantly admitted to audience with his Holiness.
After the first compliments, Joachim signified that he was ignorant
of the object of his journey.
" ' I am going to Rome,' said his Holiness ; ' is it possible you can
De ignorant of it ?'
" ' Has your Holiness,, then, determined to go to Rome?'
" ' What can be more natural ?' replied Pius.
" ' But does your Holiness intend to return, despite of the Ro-
mans ?'
" ' I do not comprehend you,' replied the Pope.
" ' The chief nobility of Rome, and the rich commonerfe,' said
Murat, ' have prayed me to present to the allies a memorial, with
their signatures, demanding that, henceforward, they should not be
governed, save by a secular prince. Here is the memorial. I have
sent a copy of it to Vienna ; but I retain the original, which I sub-
mit to your Holiness, in order that you may see the signatures.'
" At these words Pius took the memorial from Joachim's hand ;
and without reading, without ever glancing at it, flung it into the
fire, where it was instantly consumed. ' Now, at last,' said he,
' there is no obstacle to our going to Rome.' " .
The rest of his life, which was yet prolonged till the 20th of
August, 1823, is comparatively uninteresting. Like the stream that
has been turned from its course, and guided among rocks, and over
precipices, without losing itself for a moment, it now returns to its
channel, and glides tranquilly on to its term. Not that Europe, or
its affairs were settled, but the great convulsion was over, and its
312 LECTUEE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
condition might be compared to the heaving of the ocean after the
stormy spirit that had moused its depth has passed away.
' Such was the life of Pius VII., — cast in the most eventful period
which Christianity ever witnessed. I have selected it, not because
the trusts which he had to protect amid the strife of so many con-
tending elements may have any special interest for you, but because,
as tests of human character, they might serve for illustrations as well
as anj"^ other ; and another reason, permit me to add, that I might
not treat a subject altogether foreign to my profession, when, con-
sulting my inclination rather than my ability, I accepted the invita-
tion with which your society honored me. The play of physical
force, by human agency, in the outward world, and the antagonism
of resistance of the same order, are but the visible exhibition of
forces and antagonism of another order in the human mind. And
in this department, how rich and instructive is the period to v/hich
we refer. What ardent hopes, what trembling fears, what daring
resolves, what vacillations, what fidelities, what treacheries, what
courage, what inconstancies, what defections and untruth of charac-
ter, preceded or followed the march of outward events during this
dazzling and astounding period ? Amid all this, I did think it
would not be unwelcome to you to contemplate one mind preserv-
ing its meek but lofty independence ; poised on its own apprecia-
tion of eternal principle, and capable of discarding all the influences
of personal selfishness — it was in the mind of the prisoner of Savona.
On the other hand, when we contemplate the martial pomp, the
gorgeous displays of courts and camps, the brilhant achievements
and the many and dazzling glories and greatness, so called of the
time, and ask ourselves how much, or rather how little, of all that
remains to the end of the generation that witnessed it? our minds
are overwhelmed with a vague and painful sense of disappointment,
and if we find utterance at all, it must be to exclaim, " God, God
alone is great !" Man is unquestionably great, also, in his way ;
but then " his breath is in his nostrils."
CIKCULAE LETTER. 313
Circular Letter of Et. Rev. Bishop Hughes,
INVITING ALL THE CLERGY OF HIS DIOCESE TO A SPIRITUAL
RETREAT, AND CONVOKING THE FIRST DIOCESAN SYNOD.
Rev. and Dear Sir : — The duty of administering the sacraments
and discharging the sacred functions of the holy ministry with
which we are entrusted, in a manner that may be as conformable as
the circumstances of our missions will admit to the regulations and
requirements of the Council of Trent, renders it expedient that a
system of ecclesiastical discipline for the whole diocese should be
adopted with as little delay as possible. The want of churches for
the appropriate celebration of the divine mysteries, the paucity of
clergymen, the scattered and unsettled state of the faithful, and
the other deficiencies incident to new missions, require that many
unavoidable departures from the wise and salutary regulations
laid down for our guidance by the authority of the Church should
be tolerated by the bishop. The time, however, has now arrived
when, it is believed that these, irregularities, resulting from the
necessity of circumstances, may be diminished, if not entirely re-
moved.
The Decrees of the Bishops passed at the Provincial Synods in
Baltimore contain many regulations applicable to the circumstances
of each diocese, as well as to those of the province at large. From
these, and from, the experience of the clergy, we hope to be furnished
with the necessary information to enable us to draw up such rules
as may tend to promote both order and uniformity in whatever ap-
pertains to the House of God.
With this view, then, reverend and dear sir, we invite and request
you to attend the Spiritual Retreat of all the Clergy, to be con-
ducted by the Very Rev. John Timon, and to commence immedi-
ately after Vespers on Sunday the 21st of August, in the Chapel of
the Blessed Virgin, at St. John's College, Rose Hill.
The Retreat will continue during eight days. The Diocesan Sy-
nod will be held during the first three days of the week following.
We hope that nothing less than the weightiest reason will prevent
any of the clergy from attending. Should such reason exist, how-
ever, in any particular case, we wish to be advised of it as early as
possible.
The attendance of the clergy at the Retreat and Synod, will re-
quire their absence from their congregations on two successive Sun-
days, and not more, except, perhaps, for a few living in the extreme
western portions of the diocese. You will see what inconvenience
might result from this absence, in reference to the sick, or others ;
and your zeal will anticipate it as far as pastoral vigilance and fore-
sight will enable.
Besides any books which you may choose for your private devo-
314 ARCHBISHOP hughes' PASTOEAL
tion during the exercises of the Eetreat, you will bring with you,
or procure, one copy of the Decrees of the Council of Trent, and
one copy of the statutes of the Baltimore Provincial Councils.
You will bring also with you, cassock, surplice and stole ; and if
you can, without great inconvenience, the whole suit of sacerdotal
vestments.
On arriving in the city, you will apply to the Rev. Wm. Starrs,
at the Episcopal residence, 263 Mulberry Street, who will direct yon
to the College, where all things will be in readiness for your recep-
tion and accommodation.
Your aifectionate friend and servant in Christ our Lord,
>J< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of Basileopolis,
Coadjutor of the Bishop, and Administrator
of the Diocese of New York.
William Stares, Secretary.
New York, July SSiA, 1843.
PASTORAL OF BISHOP HUaHES,
IN REQAKD TO THE ADMmiSTRa.TION OF THE SACRAMENTS,
SECRET SOCIETIES, AND THE "TRUSTEE SYSTEM" IN RE-
FERENCE TO CHURCH PROPERTY.
(The following pastoral of Bishop Hughes possesses peculiar in-
terest, as the one issued by him after the meeting of the first
Diocesan Synod, principally against the lay " Trustee System,"
then so prevalent in his diocese, a system which gave him much
trouble, and was the cause of great scandai to the Catholic com-
munity.)
JOHN, by the Grace of God, and the appointment of the Holy See,
Bishop of Basileopolis, Coadjutor to the Bishop, and Administra-
tor of the Diocese of New York, Gi;ace and Peace through our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Venerable Brethren of. the Glergy, and beloved Children of the Laity :
The sacred exercises in which the clergy have been so lately en-
gaged, followed as they have been by the convocation of the first
Diocesan Synod, require that we should address you, according to
the duties of the office to which, though unworthy, we have beeii
appointed. We cannot but congratulate you, venerable brethren
of the clergy, on the promptness and zeal with which you have
gone through these exercises, not without much advantage to your-
selves and edification to the faithful committed to your pastoral
charge. _ The greatest evidence of the divine goodness towards the
faithful, is the appointment and preservation of pastors deeply im-
bued with the holiness and responsibility of their stations. And
ON CHUECII PEOPEETY, ETC. 315
"whilst humbled ourselves with a consciousness of our own unwov
thiness, we, according to the duties incumbent on the episoojsal
office, shall leave nothing undone to co-operate with the merciful
designs of God, to save the souls committed to our charge fr«»m the
most awful evidence of his displeasure, which would be the presence
and ministry of faithless and unworthy pastors. We rejoice not
only in the zeal and constancy of your labors, but also in the antici-
pation of an increase of the same virtues, from the edification and
earnestness with which you have gone through the sacred occupa-
tions of the Retreat, and with which you have acquiesced in and
advocated those salutary enactments of the Synod, for the govern-
ment both of the faithful and the ecclesiastical life itself.
These statutes are such as it is competent for the bishop to enact
by his own sacred office, from which in fact their force is exclusively
derived. Nevertheless, we, in the full assurance of your zeal to co-
operate in whatever might tend to the external order and beauty of
the House of God, considered ourselves as bound to avail ourselves
of your experience and knowledge of the circumstances of the differ-
ent congregations over which you are placed, before we should enact
any disciplinary statutes that might be in violent conflict with those
circumstances, or might be premature and too difficult to be exe-
cuted. It is on this account, that though we judged of the measures
that might be necessary in the discipline of this Diocese, we did not
wish to adopt or enforce them, without having first had the advan-
tage of consultation and advice with and from you, who are in co-
operation in the same divine work of our blessed Redeemer. "We
give thanks to God for the zeal, charity, devotion, and unanimity of
sentiment with which you surrounded us during the Synod, and in
the deliberations on every statute submitted by us for your consid-
eration.
It remains now for us to address some remarks to our beloved
children of the laity, on the nature and advantages of the delibera-
tions in which we have been engaged, and on the laws for the eccle-
siastical discipline of this diocese, in the enactment of which those
deliberations have resulted.
The first great department of the subject which demanded our
attention was the administration of the sacraments. These divine
institutions are the channels appointed by the Redeemer of men to
perpetuate and apply in his Church forever, and under sensible forms,
the merits of that blood which He shed for the redemption of all
men. Our deliberations could not relate to the divine efficacy of
these outward signs, nor to the dispositions on the part of those
having recourse to them, essential to the interior and spiritual
effects. But the Church of God, enriched with the awful trust of
dispensing the mysteries of God, has provided, from the earliest
times, salutary rules for the external rites, times, manner, and cir-
cumstances of their administration. It was her mind that as she has
thus prescribed, so her ministers should fulfill the sacred functions
assigned to their office. But the spirit of divine wisdom which God
316 AECiiBisHOP hughes' pastoeal
has promised and imparted to that Church, in the exercise of her
supreme prerogative, did not enjoin the absolute necessity of adher-
ing to these external prescriptions under all variety of circurastane(!s.
Hence»she has ever been accustomed to dispense with her own laws,
where essential things were not involved, in every case in which the
external circumstances of any jjortion of the Church, in its connec-
tion with the world, rendered the observance of these laws imprac-
ticable. Such were the circumstances of the forefathers of most of
us under the temporal dominion of the British empire. The laws
which made it a crime for the ministers of our holy religion to
officiate at all ; which banished them from their country and their
home ; which dispossessed them of their temples, erected by the
piety and zeal of their ancestors, and left tliem no place wherein to
ofier sacrifice to their God, and to administer the sacraments of re-
ligion to his people, but the lonely glen and the humbla habitation
of some poor member of the flock, where they might discharge the
sacred functions of their ministry, not only abridged of all external
rite and ceremony, but also in secret, and, as it ■were, by stealth,
necessarily deprived the administration of the sacraments of all out-
ward ritual solemnity, except what was barely necessary to realize
the conditions on which their efiicacy depended.
Thus it has happened, that the origin of what is a departure from
the ordinary laws and usages of the Catholic Church, may be traced
to the times in which their absence was amply compensated for, by
the constancy, the privations, sufferings, and general condition of
martyrdom, by which her children in the British emj)ire were for
generations and ages exposed.
But, thanks be to Almighty God, the immortality of that religion
has enabled it to triumph over the persecutions with which it has been
assailed ; and the scenes which have witnessed its humiliation, and
persecutions unto death, like those of its Divine Master, have wit-
nessed also, and are witnessing every day, its glorious resurrection.
The circumstances of the Catholic Church in tliis happy country,
in which the rights of conscience and the immunities of religious
freedom are secured to all men, have been extensively modified and
influenced by the persecutions which she had to undergo in other
lands. The usages which prevailed in the lands of bondage, were
the first to which we became accustomed, where bondage is un-
known. Neither was it practicable, nor expedient, to enforce pre-
maturely the laws of- the Church in the new circumstances of this
country. Hence the bishops of this diocese have tolerated customs
which the Church did not approve, but merely bore with, until a
better order could be introduced. That time seems at length to
have arrived. The statutes which have been enacted and promul-
gated, have for their object this return to the ordinary and regular
discipline of the Church. Some have reference to the administration
of the sacraments. It has been customary to administer the sacra-
ment of Baptism in private houses. Henceforth it will not be lawful
for the clergymen so to administer it, wherever there is a Church
OK CHUECH PEOPEETT, ETC. 317
within the distance of three miles, except when the infant may he
in danger of death ; and then, though it will be proper to send for
the clergyman, yet in case he cannot be found, the faithful should
understand the manner of baptizing, and should administer the sac-
rament, rather than leave the child to die with6ut receiving baptism.
It is required by the laws of the Church, that baptismal fonts should
be erected in the different churches ; that at these fonts children
should be presented for baptism ; that the register of such baptism
should be at hand, and the names of the child, with its age, and of
the parents and sponsors, should be carefully recorded. The incon-
veniences and indignities to which the sacrament was frequently
exposed, when administered in private dwellings, have often afflicted
the hearts of zealous and pious clergymen. We have no reason to
doubt, but that the same feeling of reverence and respect for that
sacrament will induce the faithful to acquiesce in this return to the
regular practice of the Catholic Church, with as much eagerness as
has been manifested by the reverend clergy themselves.
Other statutes, having for their object a similar return to the laws
of the Church, have been enacted in reference to the sacraments of
Confirmation, Penance, and the Holy Eucharist. On them it is at
present unnecessary to dwell, as the faithful will become acquainted
with them through the instructions of their pastors, and by the rules
prescribed to be observed in the administration of these divine
institutions..
The abuses and sacrileges that have been attempted, from time to
time, and in too many instances carried into effect, in regard to
Matrimony, have demanded the enactment of rigid laws in reference
to the clergy, when called upon to officiate in the solemn rite of
Christian marriage. Abandoned persons of both sexes, have fre-
quently dared to apply for the rite of a second marriage, whilst they
knew they were bound by the obligations of a first contract, the ex-
istence of which they either concealed, or, sometimes, denied. At
other times, hasty and inconsiderate marriages have presented them-
selves foi- the sanction of the Church. The effect of such proceeding
was to leave the clergyman, called upon to officiate, no time to inform
himself of the character of the parties, or the circumstances under
which they were about to enter these solemn engagements. Neither
was it possible for the parties themselves, even when there existed
no impediment to their marriage, to prepare for the reception of
that sacrament, in the manner required by the Catholic faith, and by
the solemn injunctions of the Council of Trent. Matrimony being a
sacrament of the living, and not of the dead, as Baptism and Pen-
ance, ought to be received in the state of grace. When we reflect
on the abuses of this divine institution, it can no longer be surpris-
ing that so many of these marriages, hastily arranged, and entered
into-in a manner violating the laws of the Christian Church, should
be followed by that disappointment and misery which mark the
absence of the divine blessing. In order to protect this sacred and
holv state from similar abuses, in the time to come, we have forbid-
318 AECHBISHOP HUGHES PASTOEAL
den the clergy, under severe penalties, to perform any marriage,_of
which notice shall not have been given by one or both of the parties,'
at least fonr days previous. "We have also adopted the laws that
liave been enjoined by the Provincial Councils of Baltimore, with
the approbation of the Holy See, on the subject of mixed marriages ;
that is, marriages between Catholics and persons of other religious
persuasions. These marriages, though tolerated under certain mod-
ifications, ha-^-e ever been looked upon with regret and affliction by
our Holy Mother the Church. The condition, without which they
have never been permitted, in this country or elsewhere, is, that the
party not Catholic should be pledged by solemn promise to allow
entire liberty of conscience, and i-ight to the practice of religion, to
the Catholic party; and that all the offspring of such marriages
should be baptized and educated in the Catholic faith. Without this
condition, such marriages are not only disapproved, but condemned
and reprobated by the Church.
In oTder to guard the sacred ministry from being made accessory,
even in appearance, to the awful crime of bigamy, the most clear
proofs are to be exacted by the clergy, before they can officiate, that
the parties applying are qualified to enter into these solemn engage-
ments, and are bound by no other.
We enter thus into an exposition of these statutes, to advise the
faithful at large of their existence, as the ecclesiastical law of this
diocese, and to show that when the faithful are insisted on to comply
with them, the requirement is not merely the will of the pastor, but
the law, from which neither he nor the people committed to his care
are at liberty to deviate.
Another subject to which our attention has been directed, is the
existence and evils of certain societies, constituted on principles not
recognized or approved by the Church. They are generally desig-
nated as " Secret Societies," and have, for the most part, SQme pro-
fessed object of benevolence, which is used as an inducement to
engage new members, and to recommend such associations to public
favor.
Now the members of the Catholic Church ought to know that it
is not lawful for them to engage in the membership of any associa-
tion, not consistent with their duties as members of that great Uni-
versal Society, founded by our Redeemer, known as the Church, and
which embraces all the good that man is capable of accomplishing
in this world. If they wished to perform charities, the rules of
religion direct the manner, and their fellow-members and neighbors
furnish perpetual occasion for its exercise. But wherever some par-
tial good is set forth, as the end and aim of any separate society,
unless all its duties be public and left free, the faithful ought to be
on their guard, lest there be connected with it something which is
not made public, but by virtue of which they who enter become im-
plicated in snares that prove fatal to their salvation.
Again, there is connected with the membership of these associa-
tions, either an oath, or some solemn religious obligation, binding
OK CHUECH PEOPEETT, ETC. 319
tilie members to the performance of duties, so called, with -which
they are at the time necessarily unacquainted, and which depend on
future contingencies, altogether beyond their control. The conse-
quence is, that, in fulfilling these duties, they are not unfrequently
required to violate the laws of God, and perhaps the laws of the
land. Hence arises the incompatibility of these twofold obligations ;
when, what is required by their society implies a violation of what
is required by their Christian Association of Membership in the
Catholic Church. Besides, it is absolutely forbidden by the laws
of religion, to take any oath or solemn obligation of a religious
nature, which implies an appeal to God, as the witness of what we
say, except in circumstances and on conditions altogether wanting
in the organization of these Secret Societies. Hence, by taking
such oath or obligation, the individual transgresses the laws of God ;
and so long as he perseveres in the transgressions, is, necessarily,
shut out from the privileges of the sacraments and graces of the
Church. These associations have been originated and continued,
for the most part, by men who have had no other end in view than
their own private advantage, and for this have not scrupled to vio-
late the most sacred obligations of religion, and to involve their
unfortunate dupes not only in sin and evil practices, but oftentimes
in disorders and quarrels, in which blood has been shed, and the
shedding of it expiated on the gallows ! Now we warn and admon-
ish all the faithful committed to our charge, if any are involved in
such associations, to withdraw from them with as little delay as
possible ; and also, as a rule of safety and precaution, we entreat all
others not to yoke themselves in the membership of such associa-
tions without having first asked leave of their respective pastors or
clergymen, whether they can do so without cutting themselves off
from the communion of the Church.
In the mean time we have directed, in obedience to the laws of
our holy religion and the duties of our office, that no clergyman in
this diocese, shall admit to any sacrament of the Church, such per-
sons as, forgetting their fidelity to her, involve themselves in the
dangerous and sinful associations already alluded to ; or in any secret
society, or combination, held together by any solemn religious obli-
gation, whether it be in the form of an oath or otherwise, of similar
import. Neither shall it be lawful for any clergyman in this diocese
to officiate at the funeral, or over the remains of any one dying
without having renounced all connection with such society, if it had
been his misfortune to have been so involved. This statute shall be
rigidly adhered to ; and any clergyman who shall have overlooked,
disregarded, or neglectad to enforce it, shall not be considered wor-
thy to exercise the holy 'ministry.
One of the most perplexing questions connected with the well-
being of religion, is the tenure and administration of ecclesiastical
property. A system, growing, perhaps, out of the circumstances
of the times, has prevailed in this country which is without a parallel
in any other nation, or in the whole history of the Catholic Church.
320 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES PASTOEAL
That system is, of leaving ecclesiastical property under the manage-
ment of laymen, who are commonly designated " trustees.'' We
do not disguise, that our conviction of this system is, that it is alto-
gether injurious to religion, and not less injurious to the piety and
religious character of those who, from time to time, are called upon
TO execute its offices. We have known many trustees, and we have
never known one to retire from the office a better Catholic or a more
pious man than he was when he entered on it. But, on the contrary,
we have known many, who, on retiring from that office, were found
to have lost, not only much of their reUgious feeling, but also much
of their faith ; from whom their families have derived, perhaps, the
first impulse in that direction which so many have taken, of aliena-
tion from the Church, and attachment to some of the sectarian doc-
trines by which they were surrounded. We might appeal with
great confidence to the experience of both the clergy and the laity,
who have lived long enough amongst us, to witness the efiects of,
this system, and to attest that where it has not been as we have just
described, it has acted according to the exception and not to the rule.
These consequences ought to make us pause and reflect. Is it that,
in the proposed necessity of discussing sacred things, connected
with public worship, they lose the reverence due to them ? Or, is
it, that the Almighty would thus manifest his displeasure at the
introduction into his religion of an order not appointed by Him in
the constitution of the Church, and without precedent in her history ?
We know not. But the fact cannot have escaped the observation
of any one, and is worthy of our deep and solemn reflection.
Yet, lamentable as are these facts, they are.not precisely, after
all, those which call upon us in the discharge of our episcopal duty
for the exercise of the authority with which we are invested. After
what relates to the purity of faith and morals, and the soundness
of discipline, the next most imperative duty of the episcopal office
is to ^^•atch over, guard and preserve, the ecclesiastical property
of his diocese, for the sacred purposes in view of which it was
created.
Now, ecclesiastical property is that, and all that, which the faith-
ful contribute from religious motives and for religious purposes. It
is the Church, the cfemetery, and all estate thereto belonging. It
is the 25ew rents, the collections, and all the moneys derived from
or for the benefit of religion. It is the sacred furniture of the
House of God. In a word, it is all that exists for ecclesiastical pur-
poses. According to the laws of the Church and the usage of all
nations, such property, though it must be protected by human laws,
as other material property, yet, being once brought into existence
in the form, and for the uses of religion, is considered as if it were
the property of God: which cannot be violated, alienated, or waste-
fully squandered, without (besides the ordinary injustice as if it
were common property) the additional guilt of a kind of sacrilege.
It is not considered, in the Canon law, either the property of the
bishop, or the property of his clergy, or the property of the peo-
OIT CHTTECH PEOPEETY, ETC. 321
pie; but as tlie property of God — for the i-eligious use of them all.
Hence, it is the duty of all to preserve it ; but to preserve not with
the care which would be sufficient in matters of a secular character,
but under a sense of the awful responsibility involved in such ad-
ministration. In the enactments of the Canon law, the highest
functionaries of the hierarchy itself were not allowed to undertake
their administration, whithout having first taken an oath that they
would administer, preserve, and transmit it, as above described.
From this you will easily understand, venerable brethren of the
clergy, and beloved children of the laity, how great has been our
departure from the holy and the wise provision of the Church, in re-
lation to ecclesiastical property. Instead of taking those provisions
for our model, we have imitated the secular or sectarian examples
by which we are surrounded ; — and that sacred property has been
managed as if it were in a state over which our trustees could ex-
ercise absolute control, according to their judgment and will. And
if we should be struck first, and most sensibly, with the spiritual
evils which it has entailed, by destroying or diminishing the re\-er-
ence and piety of those most familiar with it, by giving occasion to
strifes, and contentions, and scandals in congregations ; we are,
nevertheless, deeply sensible of the evils that have resulted in the
mismanagement and m.isappropriation of that sacred property itself.
These evils have not arisen from the want of integrity on the part
of the trustees, but appear to us to be inherent in the system, and
inseparable from it. Indeed, it can hardly be otherwise. We have
but to reflect, for a moment, on the mannes in which it has
operated.
In the first place, we know that the persons usually appointed,
and especially in the commencement of congregations, are by no
means competent in point of capacity. This is strikingly evident
whenever it is necessary to refer to their official proceedings, as
recorded in their minutes, or to their books of accounts. Notwith-
standing this incapacity, they are conscious to themselves of upright
intentions ; and this very consciousness renders them less disposed
to be guided by others. In building churches, and in managing
their affairs when they are built, their reliance in the main has been
on the credit by which they may be enabled to borrow. If they
were to be personally responsible ,for moneys thus borrowed,
they themselves would be the first to feel the inconveniences and
dangers of the practice. But they are responsible only in their
official capacity — that is, the ecclesiastical property of which we
have spoken above, becomes pledged to creditors, by mortgage or
otherwise, for the consequences of their transactions. Then they
are stimulated by the laudable desire to have a respectable church,
and this expeditiously finished. Besides this, there is still another
danger, which is, that they have reason to calculate on being dis-
placed from office, and their successors appointed, before the period
when it will be necessary to meet their engagements. Thus one set
.of trustees contracts the debt, with the idea that, not on them, but
21
322 ARCHBISHOP hughes' PASTOEAI,.
on their successors, will devolve the ohligation of payment. These
successors come into office, and feel that, if bad contracts and ex-
travagant expenditures have been made, it was not by them, but by
their predecessors ; and if they add no more to the debts, or the
expenditures, they do not feel that their duty requires more than to
devise ways and means for paying the interest, and so transmit the
burthen, undiminished, to their successors -,' — and thus it goes on,
and we find that, at the present time, the churches of this city in
particular, are burthened with a debt equal to what they are worth.
Neither is this the only inconvenience resulting from the system.
We are well aware that at all times there have been in the boards
of trustees, men most anxious to diminish the debts of the churches
with which they were connected. Now, this could only be done,
either by raising collections from the charity and zeal of the faithful,
or by creating a larger revenue. The former has been found im-
practicable. It seems, as if in the very feelings of the people, there
is a natural repugnance to contribute charities to laymen for such
purposes. Sometimes it is ascribed to want of confidence, and some-
times to other causes : but, at all events, the fact is a matter known and
acknowledged by all; and perhaps the best explanation of it is, that it
is the manifestation of a religious feeling which thus intimates the ab-
sence of those salutary laws regarding such property which the
Church has established, and to which the faithful are accustomed in
all other countries. The other means, therefore, namely, that of in-
creasing the revenue, has been most generally employed. This, also,
brought with it, as it is ever likely to bring, a complicated train of
serious evils.
How awfully low is the character of religion reduced in the verj-^
necessity which obliges, as is supposed, trustees to deliberate on the
best mode to draw large congregations ; and this, be it understood,
not for the salvation of the souls of the people so much as for the
revenue ! Hence, in the appointment of clergymen as pastors, it
has oftentimes happened that the only merit which was valued by
these men was that of eloquence. Piety, learning, zeal, a laborious
industry in administering the sacraments, were all good ; but, in
connection with the necessities of revenue, were deemed of compara-
tively little importance, if the clergyman was not, at the same time,
what was called a good preacher ; — who would cause the pews to
be rented, and the aisles to be filled with people. We need not
enlarge on the injuries to the true spirit of the priesthood, and to the
religious feelings of the faithful, which must ever result from asso-
ciation with such councils and such practices. Neither was this all.
We have heard the influence of music in the choirs, and that even
by persons whose presence in the church at all could afford no
edification, calculated upon Avith almost equal emphasis as the
talents of the pastor. We could even yet enlarge with many details
on the abuses of this kind, which we know, either by having wit-
nessed them ourselves, or by the attestation of others. We have
sometimes remonstrated on the subject, and have found the ready.
ON CHTJECH PEOPEETT, ETC. 323
answer to be, that the necessities of the church required these
things, and that their existence should, on the contrary, be taken as
evidence of the zeal and financial capacity of those who managed
the temporal aifairs of the congregation.
Thus, all the parts of this system of leaving church property under
the control of lay managers, acting with good intentions, if you
will, but without any responsibility, are so linked and interwoven, as
causes and conseqnences with each other, that they constitute one
complex whole. We do not enlarge upon other topics connected
with the suWeot, but we shall simply remark, that it is the faithful,
that is, the Catholic people at large, who must, in one form or an-
other, pay for all the mistakes and errors committed by trustees.
We can bear testimony to their zeal, to their liberality, and to the
sacrifices which they are ready *o make for the promotion of their
religion and the prosperity of the Church. But liberality and sacrifices
which are often required, and yet from which religion derives but
little benefit, will soon deter them from contributing, merely to fur-
nish the means of carrying on this uncatholic system.
The peculiar circumstances under which the congregations have
been formed, were such as rendered it apparently expedient to leave
these matters generally to the discretion of the congregations them-
selves. The time, however, has arrived when modifications are
required, not only for the order and decorum of ecclesiastical rela-
tions, but also by the general demand of the people themselves.
We have, therefore, directed and ordained, by the statutes of the
diocese, that henceforward, no body of lay trustees, or lay persons,
by whatever name called, shall be permitted to appoint, retain, oi
dismiss, any person connected with the church — such as sexton,
organist, singers, teachers, or other persons employed in connection
with religion or public worship, against the will of the pastor, sub-
ject to the ultimate decision of the ordinary. We have ordained,
likewise, that the expenses necessary for the maintenance of the
pastors, and the support of religion, shall, in no case, be withheld
or denied, if the congregations are able to afibrd them. It shall
not be lawful for any board of trustees, or other lay persons, to make
use of the church, chapel, basement, or other portions of ground,
or edifices consecrated to religion, for any meeting, having a secular,
or even an ecclesiastical object, without the approval, previously had,
of the pastor, who shall be accountable to the bishop for his deci-
sion. And, with a view to arrest the evils of the trustee system in
expending inconsiderately, or otherwise, the property of the faith-
ful, it has been ordained, as a statute of the diocese, that no board
of trustees shall be at liberty to vote, expend, or appropriate for
contracts, or under any pretext, any portion of the property which
they are appointed to administer (excepting the current expenses as
above alluded to), without the express approval and approbation of
the pastor in every case. And it is further ordained, that even thus,
the trustees of the churches, with the approbation of the pastpr,
shall not be at liberty to expend an amount larger than one hundred
324
dollars in any one year, without the consent of the bishop approving
or permitting such expenditure.
One of the first and most explicit decrees of the Provincial
Council in Baltimore, directed and enjoined on the bishops of this
province that they should not, thenceforward, consecrate any church
therein, unless the deed had been previously made, in trust to the
bishop thereof This rule has hitherto been followed strictly by
the great majority of the episcopal body; and wherever it has been
followed, the faithful are exempted from many of the evils to which
we have already referred. Religion progresses — the clergy are freed
from annoyances — their ministry is respected — their influence with
the people obtains large and numerous contributions, for the erec-
tion or improvement of churches, and the danger of seeing those
sold for debt, and given over to profanation, is alike removed from
the apprehensions of pastor and people. In proportion to their
numbers, the multiplication of churches has been as great among
them as in this diocese, and yfet their churches are almost, if not
entirely out of debt.
Notwithstanding the feelings that must arise from the contrast
of their situation with ours, we have, for what appeared weighty
reasons, hitherto declined executing the^statutes of the decrees of the
Baltimore Councils on this subject. In the first place, the system
existed here more, perhaps, than in any other diocese. Secondly, it
was intimated that the laws rendered the tenure in trust of church
property by the ordinary, uncertain, if not insecure. Besides, if it
could be avoided, without injury to religion and the ecclesiastical
property, we should be glad to see the bishop freed from the solici-
tude inseparable from its guardianship. These considerations,
which might be much enlarged, have induced us to hope that the
present system might be so modified as to secure some benefit, and
exclude many of the evils which have resulted from the irresponsible
exercise of its powers. It is with the view to make the experiment,
that the statutes enacted at our late Synod, have been adopted as
the Ecclesiastical Law of the diocese. We have made it the duty
of the pastors to procure, in every instance, a register of the church
property. In this, they are directed to note down, in the first place,
whatever appertains to the history of the church — the date of the
origin — its location — the Saint under whose patronage it is dedi-
cated— its style of architecture, and whatever else would be in-
teresting in its general history and character. Besides this, they
are required to preserve an inventory of all its movable property-^
such as chalices, vestments, and what may be termed the sacred
furniture of the church ; distinguishing in said inventory such
things as belong to themselves, if any, from what belongs to the
congregation. They shall, furthermore, be required at each annual
visitation of the bishop, to exhibit a synopsis of the financial con-
dition of the church — embracing a statement of its revenue — from
what sourde derived — how expended, etc. ; and for this purpose
they are to have access to the books of the treasurer, and the min
ON CHUECH PEOPEETY, ETC. 325
' utes of all official proceedings by the Board of Trustees, as often
as they shall judge necessary.
Should it happen that any Board of Trustees, or other lay persons,
managing the temporal aifairs of any church or congregation, should
refuse to let them see the treasurer's books, and the minutes of
official proceedings, they are required to give us immediate notice
of such refusal.
We shall then adopt such measures as the circumstances of each
case may require ; but in no case shall we tolerate the presence of a
clergyman in any church or congregation in which such refusal shall
be persevered in. We look to this measure as the means, if not
of accomplishing much good, at least of preventing much evil. Our
object is to fulfill the duties of our station, not only by preserving,
as far as in us lies, the purity of faith and morals over which we are
appointed to watch, but also of preserving whatever the piety of the
faithful has consecrated to the service of Almighty God, and for the
support of religion. And we should be happy if it were found
that in the laws no substantial obstacle exists to the investment of
the kind of property in the manner prescribed by the Provincial
Council. Provisions have already been made, wherever it has been
so invested, to secure it against the dangers of alienation by the
demise of the bishop or other accidents which are possible. Cer-
tainly, the responsibility would be much greater on him than it
would be on lay trustees. First, because he undestands better than
they can be expected to do, the account which is to be rendered to
God for its just administration. Secondly, because be has no re-
lease from the awful burthen with which it is connected, from the
time of his appointment until his death. Thirdly, because were he
to mismanage, or suffer the dilapidation of it, the congregations
themselves and their clergy would be cognizant of the fact.
Fourthly, because in that event, he would be held immediately respon-
sible to tlie ecclesiastical authority of the_Church, for a neglect and
violation of his duty. Whereas, with trustees, the ecclesiastical
laws and the civil laws are alike feeble in fixing or determining the
responsibility ■ of mismanaging, or wasting ecclesiastical property.
The only penalty that we have hitherto known, is to decline re-elect-
ing those who may have so mismanaged.
These are the principal statutes to which, for the information of
the faithful, we have deemed it necessary to refer in our Pastoral
Letter. Other enactments, intended for their good, but having
reference more directly to the administration of the sacraments,
and to the clergy themselves, we need not dwell upon. We have
been cheered and console^d by the great spirit of zeal, harmony and
devotion to the authority of the Church, which have marked the
deliberations of the Synod, on all these subjects ; and we have no
doubt that the co-operation among the faithful, to see them carried
out and sustained, will correspond with that of the clergy. We
326 ^ECHBISHOP HUGHES PASTOEAL
trust and believe that the holding of this, the first Synod in the
Diocese of New York, is an auspicious epoch in the history of our
I'eligion. In other countries, where religion has been persecuted by
the government, our brethren have but to remove tlie rubbish of
the old temple, and reconstruct it on its own foundations, which can
still be traced. With us the case is different. The materials abound
on every side, but as yet they have not been reduced to that order
which constitutes beauty in the celestial edifice; and for this
we have but to consult the annals of religion to discover the plan
which we should imitate and follow. We may be assured that if
we would have the Church of God to spread among us — if we
would have our venerated clergy enshrined in the holiness of their
oiBc^ and in the affection of their flocks — if we would have piety
and charity and peace to flourish among us — it is not by imitating
the loftiest efforts of human wisdom displayed in the ecclesiastical
policy of modern sects, but by endeavoring to tread as nearly as
possible in the paths trodden by our ancestors in faith, according to
the prescriptions of that Church to which the Holy Spirit was prom-
ised for its guidance, and from which the veracity of that promise
is a pledge that it will never depart.
These are the wise counsels which already have begun to manifest
their blessed fruits among us. They have already begun to extend
among the faithful, and we know that their reverence for the
authority of their religion is such, that they will rarely offend
against it, when they know what it is. It is for this reason, prin-
cipally, that we have dwelt so much at large upon the several topics
referred to in this Letter, desirous as we were to blend explanation,
as far as might be, with the promulgation of the laws which they
will be so prompt to follow and obey. If we have not succeeded as
well as may be required in some instances, we entreat you, vener-
able brethren of the clergy, to supply our deficiencies by your in-
structions and explanations of these laws, in all patience and
charity. They do not come into operation until the period of three
months from their promulgation in our Diocese Synod ; and, of
course, cannot be enforced until their existence shall have been
made sufficiently known, for which purpose three months were con-
sidered to be sufficient.
In conclusion, we have to exhort you all to be zealous and faith-
ful to the duties of your Christian calling ; to study to adorn your
profession by the virtues of your lives ; by temperance, truth, in-
tegrity, and all those qualities which are required in the character
of good citizens. But, remembering that you are not created for
this alone, we exhort you again, beloved children of the laity, with
greater earnestness to attend to and fulfill your Christian duties, by
observing the lessons of religion, by frequenting the holj-^ sacra-
ments, by imparting salutary instruction to your children, and those
under your care, and by confirming the same with the authority of
your example.
APOLOGY FOE HIS PASTORAL. 327
And, now, the peace of God, ■which surpasseth all undei'standing,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Given at the Episcopal Residence, New York, this 8th day of
September, in the Year of our Lord, 1842, and in the fifth of our
Episcopacy.
>i< JOHlSr HUGHES, Bishop of Basileopolis,
Coadjutor to the Bishop, and Administrator
of the Diocese of New York.
William Stares, Secretary.
Bishop Hugh.es' Apology for his Pastoral Letter,
IN EEPLY TO THE STRICTURES OF FOUR EDITORS OP
POLITICAL NEWSPAPERS:
The first, David Hale, Eaq., who ia a Congregationalist in religion ; the second,
W. L Stone, Esq., who is some kind of a Presbyterian; the third, M. M. Noah,
Esq., who is a Jew; and the fourth, the editor (whose name I do not know) of a
little paper called the " Aurora."
Gentlemen, — In proposing to reply briefly to your strictures on
my Pastoral Letter, I have deemed it but right to place your several
religious professions in connection with your names, not through
disrespect, but in order that the reader may judge of your compe-
tency to decide a matter of ecclesiastical polity between a Catholic
Bishop and his flock. The manifest concord of opinion in the cen-
sures which you are pleased to bestow on me, could hardly unite
you on any other topic, except an assault upon the Catholic religion
and its ministers. On this point Jew and Gentile, Greek and Bar-
barian, are agreed. It is, in the language of Scripture, " the sect
everywhere spoken against."
It is unquestionably your right, as conductors of public journals,
to discuss public matters ; but how far you are warranted in the
propriety of bringing a religious question, of a denomination to which
none of you belong, into the columns of secular and political journals,
is a question on which I leave others to decide. To me it seems that
it is going beyond your province, and especially when we recollect
the horror whi8h you afiected at an imaginary interference with po-
litical matters by the clergy, on a late occasion. If you should extend
to every denomination, in the regulation of its ecclesiastical concerns,
the same degree of solicitude that you have to ours, then your papers
will abound with an incongruous mixture of what you so much depre-
cate, the blending of religion and politics — Church and State. I do
not complain of the epithets which you have applied to the document
under consideration, or to its author. It was my duty to address
the flock committed to my charge, in the plain, simple and direct
328 AECHBISHOP hughes'
language best calculated to express the meaning which I intended to
convey. In all this, I have but made known to them the laws and
rules of their religion, and if I had proceeded to ordain anything not
authorized by the laws of the Church, they themselves have sufficient
discernment to perceive and remonstrate against such enactment.
Whether or not my language, in doing this, is to be denounced as
"impudent," "bold," "bigoted," etc., will depend very much on
whether that religious liberty which is guaranteed by our Constitu-
tion, is a thing to be enjoyed or not.
As the question stands in the columns of your respective papers,
i cannot but consider myself as arraigned at the bar of public opin-
ion, having you for my accusers ; and the object of this communica-
tion is to prove, if I can, that you are false witnesses, bad reasoners,
and unjust judges in the premises. It seems to me that you havo
made this easily proved. The first charge which is made against
me, is, for a pretended encroachment on the rights and freedom of
the Catholic body. Before I show how unjust this charge is, I must
premise a few observations, which are essential to a proper under-
standing of the subject.
First. — Every religious denomination in this country, being obe-
dient to the laws thereof, has a right to regulate, according to its
own rules, the questions of ecclesiastical discipline appertaining to
its government. Deny this right, and you destroy religious liberty.
In the exercise of this right, there is amongst us one denomination
that refuses to recognize our government, or to exercise under it,
the prerogatives of citizens, because, according to their religious be-
lief, the government is opposed to the ordinances of God. They are,
however, so far as I know, good citizens — that is, obedient to the
laws, discharging their social duties as well as others who hold not
these opinions. So also with every new or ancient sect or society,
each has its own rules, without which it could not subsist.
Secondly. — ^The Pastoral Letter is but one of the forms of religious
government embraced, and adhered to, by the denomination to whom
it was addressed. It specifies and requires conformity to rules which
would be very absurd if addressed to Congregationalists, Presbyte-
rians, Jews, or Infidels ; but it is addressed to Catholics, that is to
say, to those who recognize in it the rules of thp Society to w^hich
they belong.
Thirdly. — But, does conformity to its requirements imply that
abjection of spirit — that absence of religious liberty, which your
strictures describe ? I answer, no. And why does it not ? Because,
all similar obligations are of a moral character. The individuals to
whom they are addressed ha\e the power of conforming or of resist-
ing, as, in the exercise of their moral liberty, they may prefer. If
they choose and desire to be Catholics and to be in full and perfect
membership with their communion, they will conform to the rules,
explicitly or implicitly recognized, by all who profess the Catholic
name. If, on the contrary, they prefer to forsake that communion,
rather than submit to their rules, their power to do so is undisputed ;
APOLOGY FOB HIS PASTOEAL. 029
aud though the exercise of that power be at the risk of thoir salva-
tion— still there is but little doubt that its exercise would tend to an
impro\ement of their worldly circumstances, considering the igno-
rance and prejudices of a vast portion of the public in reference to
the communion which they would have forsaken. Thus, therefore,
their adhering to that communion, under these circumstances, is as
real an exercise of their religious freedom as if they forsook it, and
attached themselves to the undefined worship and usages of the
Broadway Tabernacle. In my Pastoral Letter I found it my duty
to pron^ulgate certain regulations with regard to the tenure and
administration of church property. You, gentlemen, have accused
me, one and all, of having dispossessed or intending to dispossess the
laity of this property, and of passing it into the hands of the clergy.
In this accusation I charge you with being false Avitnesses. I have
not, and if you have read my Pastoral Letter, you must have seen,
that I have not proposed any such thing. I have simply endeavored
to correct certain abuses connected with its administration — but as
to having claimed to alter it, there is no evidence found in the docu-
ment to which you refer. • How then, gentlemen, could you in so
serious a matter bear false witness against your neighbor?
With the Catholics it is a jDrinciple of morals, that a debt justly
contracted must be paid, and that no lapse of time, no civil exemp-
tion, nothing but inability, can release the debtor from the obliga-
tion of such payment. Now, the laws of a civil character for the
government of a church, authorize trustees to contract debts ; and as
trustees are but representatives of those who elect them, that moral
obligation to which I have just referred, devolves on their constitu-
ents, that is to say, the Catholic body at large. It has come within
my knowledge, as an instance for illustration, that a debt thus con-
tracted of less than seventy dollars, by the neglect or mismanage-
ment of trustees and the accumulation of expenses by a legal process,
for its recovery, has amounted, in less than one year, to the increased
sum of one hundred and ninety dollars. Now this is an instance of
the abuse which the Pastoral Letter is intended to remove, and cer-
tainly I did not expect from gentlemen wielding the influence of the
public press, so harsh a reprimand for a regulation calculated and
intended to promote the great ends of moral honesty and common
justice ! As for your asserting that I attempt to take such prop-
erty from trustees, it is, as I have before said, gratuitous, and par-
don me for adding, utterly false.
The next point on which I am arraigned by you all, is the regula-
tion respecting what is termed in the document " mixed marriages."
On this subject you ha,ve indulged a degree of sentimentality which
would be quite edifying, were it not that the principles and prac-
tices of the Presbyterian religion and of the Jewish religion eqjially
forbid the members of either to marry with Catholics. Yet on this
point, I contend that there is no violation, on either side, of religious
or civil liberty. It is a question which it will be in the power of
each one to decide for himself, whether he shall prefer the rules of
330 ARCHBISHOP hughes'
the religion which he professes, or the indulgence of his own per-
sonal feeling. He is certainly free to decline matrimonial alliances
which are not approved by his church ; or he is free to throw his
church overboard, and enter on those alliances as he will.
The next subject of your complaint is that I have denounced " Odd
Fellows," " Free Masons," etc. Here again, gentlemen, you must
permit me to say, in my defence, that you are false witnesses. The
document which you aifect to review has not a syllable against Odd
Fellows or Free Masons. I am unconscious of ever having recerved
any injury from the members of either of these societies, and God
forbid that I should entertain the slightest uncharitableness or ill
will towards them.
But, gentlemen, it is my duty as an official interpreter of Christian
morals, in the instruction of sit own flock, to define the conditions
which according to the Holy Scriptures make it lawful and innocent
to appeal to God in the solemnity of an oath. Experience has taught
me that some, at least, of my flock, were ignorant or misled in ref-
erence to this subject. Three or four years ago, and since, I had
occasion to believe that many poor Catholics, especially when assem-
bled in large bodies on public works, are perverted and marshaled
into combinations, bound together by the solemnity of oaths admin-
istered to them by some of their more depraved or more designing
countrymen.
If there had been but one such society, although still unlawful,
yet the consequences to the community and to its own dupes could
not have been so fatal ; but there were at least two, — and I have
had much reason to believe that the contagions of these two led to
many of those riots and disturbances on public works, ^\■hich are
spoken of in the newspapers as battles between " Corkonians and
Connaught men — far-ups and far-downs." Both of these societies
had most benevolent purposes, and beautiful features displayed in
the programme of their Constitution.
More than a year ago, certain prominent officers of both, promised
me to abolish every kind of oath or solemn appeal to God as the tie
of membership binding their respective fraternities together. This,
I have reason to think, they have observed since then most relig-
iously. But I had occasion to discover further, that in many remote
parts of the diocese and country, others who had been initiated pre-
viously, into the societies, still retained their oath, and deluded the
unwary into joining those societies, by asserting that they had my
approbation. Now, this was true, so far as the benevolent object of
the society was concerned ; but utterly false so far as those objects
were to be secured by an appeal, or an adjuration to the living God.
Under these circumstances it became necessary for me through the
medium of a Pastoral Letter to imdeceive litem, and to caution others
upon this subject. Certainly the society of Free Masons, or the
society of Odd Fellows, is not so much as mentioned in that letter,
nor did they occur to me in its composition. Yet the principles laid
down m the Pastoral, which are principles of Christian morals, as
APOLOGY POK HIS PASTOEAL. 3bl
understood in the Catholic Church, will apply to every society coming
under the description there given.
Having thus explained the circumstances under which it became
my duty to allude to "Secret Societies," and having specified the
kind of societies which had particularly created that necessity, I did
not expect that you, gentlemen, who ought to be guardiiins of pub-
lic order, would have rebuked me iii such unmeasured terms for
ha\'ing thus endeavored to remove the source from which those dis-
orders have sprung, on our public works and elsewhere.
When quarrels have taken place, and the public authorities have
been obliged to interpose — when hatred has been engendered, and
sometimes blood shbd — the whole matter is for you but an occasion
for a sportive paragraph. For me it is one of horror and afflictiojt ;
and knowing the source from which, in too many instances, those
evils have arisen, I should have taken to myself rather, credit for
rendering a benefit to society, and especially to the unhappy men
themselves, by endeavoring to remove the cause.
So far I have noticed those charges in which you all agree. Now
I shall briefly review the tone and spirit of the several articles ac-
cording to the individuality of their respective authors.
The first who leads off in the charge is Mr. Hale of the Journal of
Commerce.
This gentleman is so notorious for his bitterness against Catholics
and Catholicity, that to their minds his condemnation of anything
connected with their religion, is a very strong presumption in its
favor. He is generally reported a religious man — some believe him
to be a saint, in his own way — one thing, however, strikes me from
an occasional perusal of his paper, which is, that he is not a believer
in the merit of good works, and that his salvation runs but little
jeopardy from his practice in, that way. I do not consider him a
well-informed Christian. The sign of the Cross, which it is usual
for Catholic bishops, especially in the Western Church, to prefix to
their signature, occurs to his mind under the idea of a " dagger."
Is this wit, or is it ignorance ? If it be wit, it seems to me that he
would have done better to have chosen another object, and left this
for the jest of Mr. Noah. To the Christian the Cross is an object
of reverence. It is an emblem, blended with all that is consoling in
human life — with all that is commemorative of the Saviour's suffer-
ings— -with all that is humane in the elements of modern civilization,
and yet this symbol carries to the brain of Mr. Hale only the idea
of a " dagger." It has been the ornament of all that is great and
glorious, in the annals of Christendom. It is the sign which marks
the spot where William Tell freed his country. It is the seal which
was impressed on the Magna Chaeta of British Liberty, from which
our own is derived ; and yet it conveys to the mind of a man who
reads his Bible and lays claim to no ordinary share of sanctity, the
idea and associations of a dagger. It is not for me to explain why
this should be so ; and in itself it is a phenomenon almost as unac-
countable as that the female figure seen in our courts, holding scales
332 ARCHBISHOP hughes'
equally poised, whioli symliolizes a reign of just and equal laws, and
on Avhich men usually look with pleasure, should, in some instances
suggest to the beholder only the idea of imprisonment or something
worse.
Mr. Hale after having first borne false witness against his neighbor,
builds some paragraphs of ill-reasoned commentary on the basis of
his own testimony. He says : " With no little regard for some of
the gentlemen we know (meaning Catholics) it seems to us they
have proved beyond all controversy that liberty cannot be sustained
in connection with the divine right of priests. This superstition
overawes the risings of liberty, and holds the man in bondage. Lib-
erty never grew in such a soil smothered in such rank weeds." 'Now
I ^lave to observe first that all priests -(vho are appointed of Christ,
are by divine right ; and when they are less than this, they are not
priests at all ! Secondly, that Mr. Hale's principle is, that no man
can exercise the rights of freedom unless he trample upon the relig-
ious or social obligations which he has been pleased to assume.
Thus, to be a fi'eeman, the Presbyterian must^ trample on the "West-
minster Confession of Faith ; the Episcopalians on the Thirty-nine
Articles; the Catholic on the Council of Trent; the Jew on the law
of Moses ; and even the Odd Fellows and Free Masons on the rule
which bind tliem together !
I, on the contrary, contend that such a principle is inconsistent V\'ith
the existence of every social, or religious society. But Mr. Halo does
not depend on his reasoning alone, such as it is. He quotes Scrip-
ture, and tells us that Peter says, "not to t\e clergy, but to the.
whole people, ye are a chosen generation, a Royal Pkiesthood,"
and from this he infers that everybody is a priest by divine right.
Now, this text would apply in the Catholic Church where there is a
sacrifice, which a priesthood necessarily supposes, and where the
priest is but the official minister to discharge the sacred functions
for, and with the people. To such a people, without distinction of
clergy from laity, we can understand the application of a " social
priesthood." But if Mr. H.ale will allow the question to be decided
by the Scriptures, he will find a text, much more safe and much less
equivocal in its meaning, in which the inspired Apostle directs the
faithful to be " obedient and subject to their prelates" — a text, by
the way, which can have no possible meaning at the Broadway Tab-
ernacle.
Tke next accuser, in the order of time, is Wm. L. Stone, Esq.
My wish is to speak of this gentleman with respect. I cannot but
regard him as a man whom nature intended to be benevolent. He
once entitled himself to the respect of all lovers of truth, of what-
ever denomination, by his triumphant exposure of the disgusting
libel which appeared under the title of " Maria Monk." His merit
in this was the greater because his virtue was reflected in the refu-
tation and confusion of some of the ministers and members of his
own church. He alone had the discernment to perceive that his
religion could derive no honor from the employment of falsehood.
APOLOGY FOE HIS PASTOItAL. 333
His course, however, is no longer the same tjiat it then was ; and if
a stranger might presume to speculate on the cause of this change,
circumstances would go far to suggest that he has been made to -feel
deeply the power of the enmity which he had provoked, and which
nothing but a show of hostility towards the Catholics, such as we
have witnessed in his writings lately, could appease. Poor man !
In his comments on the Pastoral Letter, he reasons in the same
track as his brother of the Journal of Commerce. He too accuses mo
of having attacked the " Odd Fellows" Society, and volunteers a
defence in refutation of his 07vn accusation, if any, certainly not
mine. He seems even to be deeply interested in the welfare of the
Catholic Church, and speaks with a benevolent appearance of appre-
hension and regret, in reference to the consequences of the Pastoral
Letter. Now if he be a consistent man, he ought to rejoice of the
consequences, knowing as he does, that such Catholics as will not
abide by the rule of their religion, have the power to join the Prot-
estant religion. This right of passing from one denomination to
another, is restricted happily in this country, only by the sense of
responsibility connected with the judgment of the soul in the life to
come.
We have next a dissertation on the subject of this Catholic Pas-
toral from Mr. ISToah, who is a Jew, and belongs to a religion for
the members of which I entertain a melancholy reverence, mingled
with other feelings which, I trust, are no dishonor to the human
heart! but that he shouldhavethoughthimself qualified to dis.ipprove
_ my letter in reference to Christian " baptism" is somewhat curious.
I must, however, do him the justice to say, that he does not treat
of the Sacrament alone, but considers it in connection with the " per-
quisite," an association of ideas in his mind which is, perhaps, under
all circumstances, not unnatural. He deals in the same denuncia-
tions as his colleagues of the Journal and Commercial Advertiser. He
too defends the " Odd Fellows," whom, as I have already remarked,
I had not assailed in any shape or form. All of them have applied
epithets which the occasion certainly did not warrant. - As a minis-
ter of religion, I gave out such directions, addressed not to Presby-
terians, nor Jews, nor Odd Fellows, but to the members of my own
flock, as the rules of their religion required, a right which is claimed
by every sect and every individual minister in the land ; and for this
I am charged with arrogance, impudence, bigotry, and boldness, by
these pretended advocates of civil and religious liberty.
We now come to the "Aurora," of which, however, I need say
nothing, as it only repeats what the others had said before, and as I
am told the paper is of no repute.
With this defence of my Pastoral Letter, I submit the question to
the impartial judgment of that public before which I have been ar-
raigned. The denunciations which have been uttered against me,
strike at tlie root of all religious and social organization. Every
society has the right to frame and uphold the rules by which it is
lield together, and the members who violate these rules, by every
334 AECHBISHOP hughes'
principle of justice and the usages of mankind, forfeit thereby all
claiiQ to the benefits of the association.
It may be'that I have spoken of the gentlemen who have assailed
me so unwarrantably, as I conceive, in a manner that indicates dis-
respect or ill will. I certainly entertain no ill will towards them, or
any other being alive, and if I have used language that may be con-
sidered severe, it is simply with a view to convince them, if possi-
ble, that I did not merit the treatment which I have experienced at
their hands. I did not conceive that thet were proper persons
to decide upon questions of an ecclesiastical character, except in
the several communions to which they belong. Their attempt to
persuade the flock committed to my charge that I have any other
purpose than their spiritual and temporal welfare is perfectly futile.
Coming from any source it would not be believed by those who
know me, but coming from persons whose hostility to the interests
of the Catholic body is so well known, it would but increase their
confidence. To the Catholics themselves, I have to say that I have
no intention to destroy their charters, or take the title of their
churches in my own name, unless they themselves deem it advisable.
And with regard to the other requirements of the Pastoral Letter,
they contain nothing but what has been enjoined by the authority
of our religion before they or I came into existence. It will be for
themselves individually to determine whether they shall conform or
not ; but it may be some matter of surprise, and perhaps of regret,
to those who have assailed me, to know that the Catholics them-
selves, THE BEST JUDGES OF THEIR OWZST RELIGIOUS RIGHTS AND
INTERESTS, have hailed the appearance of the Pastoral Letter and'
the requirements which it contains, with a unanimity of approbation
almost unequalled ! Those gentlemen may still be further surprised
to learn that many trustees of churches have tendered their trust
into my hands, and that I have declined to receive it ! What will
Mr. Hale say to that ?
There is one portion of the Pastoral Letter which I am sorry has
not been understood by some of the Catholics themselves as I in-
tended it. This is a portion which seems to reflect on the trustees
indiscriminately, and to involve them all in a censure which was
directed only against some in connection with the whole system
itself, as nt present organized. Now I must say that in all my inter-
course with the trustees of New York, and I may add of the diocese
generally, I have found them, with very few exceptions, as respect-
ful to me in my official character, as zealous for the good of their
religion, as any other members of the Church. There has been but
one instance in which an attempt was made, inconsiderately and not
maliciously, I am persuaded, to array the power of the trustee sys-
tem against the authority of the Church. That issue was met and
decided as it ought to be. In all other cases the trustees, so far as
deference to the laws of their Church is concerned, have always acted
as good and sincere Catholics. How then could they suppose mc to
be so unjust as to involve them in their personal and religious charac-
LETTER TO DAVID HALE. 335
ter, in censures in which they and I knew equally that they did not
merit. They have done, and are doing generally, all that good Cath-
olic men can do, in connection with a system which is uncatholic,
and in our circumstances about as bad as a system well can be. But
with the aid of our own means and judgment, we can correct its
evils without any help from Jews and Presbyterians.
>i< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop, etc.
November, 1842.
Letter of Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes to David
Hale, Esq.
SiE : — From the matter and t«ne of your letter published in the
Journal of Commerce of last Saturday, it would appear as if you
wished to engage in a religious controversy. If this be your in-
tention, it will not be in my power to correspond with it. My time
is much, and I hope more profitably, engaged. My feelings are
averse to the agitation of that bitter element in u'hich j'on seem to
delight. For this, and for other reasons which I sliall submit in
the sequel, I must beg leave respectfully to decline religious con-
troversy.
Neither have I anything to do with the opinions which you set
forth as your opinions, in opposition to the general view's of man-
kind upon the same subjects. Your opinions respecting Catholics
and their religion, you are at perfect liberty to express where and
in what manner you may think proper. I cannot tell how much or
how little they are appreciated by the public on general topics ; but
as regards religious matters, I believe they are held by even your
Protestant brethren as something below par. Of course, therefore,
it was not against your opinions that I felt it my duty to enter into
the defence of my Pastoral Letter. The question between us is one
of fact, and not of opinion. You have charged me with having
" attacked the civil institutions of the country " in my Pastoral
Letter, and I, unconscious of any such attack, have denied the
charge — and arraign you as a false accuser. I look upon your letter
as being implicitly an acknowledgment of my charge against you.
If it was not, it was easy for you to have selected such portion or
portions of my Pastoral Letter as contained an " attack on the in-
stitutions of the country," such, as you have described. Clntil you
do this, it will be impossible for you to escape from the position
of a man who, actuated by the worst feelings of the human heart,
presents serious accusations against his neighbor, without having
facts to sustain them.
If I replied to your strictures on my Pastoral, it was not precisely
because I apprehended from them any injury to the rehgion which
you are so impatient to assail. That religion has withstood the
336 AECHBISHOP hughes'
successive assaults of persecution, pagan philosophy, barbarism,
heresy and infidelity of 1800 years. It is impregnable as a for-
tress which God defends: and therefore I had no dread that it could
be injured by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce. But when I
considered the time and the circumstances of the attack by your-
self and your colleagues, representing me as setting forth doctrines
well calculated to excite the passions of those to whom your stric-
tures were addressed, it occurred to me as probable that your in-
tention was to have the city again disgraced, by the riots of a mob,
and to have me assailed by the arguments of bhick bats and paving
STONES — for I hold that the agents who fixed such a blemish on the
escutcheon of the city last spring,, were ""less culpable in the eyes of
right reason than those editors who had influenced their passions by
sectarian denunciations against Catholics, of whom the Editor of the
Journal of Commerce and the Editor of the Commercial Advertiser were
the chiefs. Thanks, however, to the sense of order which prevailed
during the late election, but no thanks to you or your colleagues —
the city has been saved from a repetition of the disgrace to whi(,h
I have referred. The windows and furniture of my dwelling are
unbroken, and the lives of the inmates of my house have not been
pnt in jeopardy. So fiir my letter, in refutation of your strictures,
may have been serviceable ; for the very tribunal before which you
arraigned me, all prejudiced as a portion of it may be, against the
Catholic religion, is too just to condemn and punish the fohely
accused, although, perchance, too indifierent to rebuke the false
accuser. We shall now enter briefly into the matter of your accu-
sation.
You charged me with having attempted to invade the civil rights
of the Catholics, in the matter of church property. I call upon you
for the proof of such charge. My Pastoral Letter is before the
public, and I defy you to find in it grounds for any such malignant
charge. In ray Apology I laid down principles which are common
to Catholics, and to all othee eeligioits denominations, for the
government of their respective religious associations. You admit
in your reply that those principles are insisted on by other denomi-
nations and by all. Why, then, did you single out the Catholics, as
if that were peculiar to them alone ? So far, therefore, the principle
of my Pastoral Letter is sanctioned by the ecclesiastical usages of
all Protestant denominations. Each has its terms of communion —
each has its laws and regulations for the government of its members
and its affairs. On this ground, then, you give up the attack — in
reference to the Catholics alone, and contend that they and all other .
denominations axe wrong, and that you, Mr. Hale, are alone right.
With your opinions, as I have said before, I have nothing to do.
But the fact that the principle of my Pastoral Letter is the same
principle acted upon in other denominations, and without which no
society could exist, is sufficient vindication. ~
The next point of your assault was that I refused Christian burial
to those who do not abjure " societifjs." This is, by your own ac-
LETl'EE TO DAVID HALE. 33?
knowledgment, a false accusation. For -what I said wai) "secret
societies," bound together by an oath or solemn religious ohligation,
and not "societies" in general, as you iniquitously represent. Now,
secret societies you yourself condemn, in language stronger than 1
used. But you tell us in your letter of Saturday, that I mistook
your meaning. Your words are : " What I condemned was the
order you gave that when dead, the members of such societies
should be refused a Christian burial." This order, you continued
to say, " seemed to me more in accordance with the mahciousness
of the savage state, than with the solemn and softening views of
death which Christianity teaches." ' Inconsistent man ! you know
well that if you believe yoiir own religion, you hold a burial
by Catholics, to be not a Christian burial, as you hyprocritically
term it, but an idolatrous burial, and of course according to your
faith, the only chance of Christian burial for such outcast members
of our Church would be the absence of our religious rites and cere-
monies in committing them to the earth. Again, you charge this
feature of ecclesiastical discipline, as a peculiarity in the Catholic
Church : — whereas, making even great allowances, it is impossible
to suppose you so ignorant as not to know that this discipline re-
specting interment, is universally insisted on in the discipline of the
Quakers, who are by no means charged with the " maliciousness of
the savage state," but, on the contrary, are proverbial for their pacific
and humane dispositions.
In explanation of the reasons for regulating and restricting ex-
penditures by trustees of Catholic churches, I mentioned the. incon-
venient anomaly of the fact, that whilst the law of the land gave to
those trustees the privilege of contracting heavy debts, whether
wisely or otherwise, the law of Catholic morals, on the other hand,
required that the Catholic people should pay them. I did not institute
any comparison in reference to Protestant morality upon this subject,
nor am I disposed to enter upon any such controversy. In your re-
marks upon this you tell us — " It is only where the Bible is a com-
mon household book, that men have confidence enough in each other
to part with substantial values for promises to pay written on paper."
This all may be so ; but in Catholic times, and in Catholic countries,
at the present day, not even "promises" written on paper are re-
quired. Among the merchants of Spain, it would be deemed an in-
sult, in dealing among themselves, to ask a receipt for money paid.
In like manner, specie being the circulating medium, it would be
considered equally an insult to count over the specie, which was
*paid in boxes said to contain such or such a sum. But after all, it
may be that "promises to pay" are pecuhar to Protestant countries,
where the Bible is a household book, whilst the payment de facto,
with or without the written promise, should happen to be on the
side of the ignorant Catholics. The discovery which you have
made upon this point cannot but be consoling to those ^vho have suf-
fered so much by Banks and banking institutions. It is true that mil-
lions and mfflions have been lost; and thousand of families reduced
22
338 AKCHBISHOP HU«HBS'
to beggary — that the " written papers " for -which they parted with
"substantial values," carrying on their face "promises to pay "—have
never been redeemed — still it may be some comfort to them, when
they look on the face of those documents that you have traced their
origin to the Bible, and identified them as the offspring of Evangeli-
cal Protestantism.
Again, in your strictures on my Pastoral, you designated the
"Cross" a "dagger." In your reference to that subject your words
are : " It was printed a dagger and I supposed it meant a dagger."
This, sir, will not do. You are certainly too well acquainted with
the usages of Christendom, not to have known that it was printed
as a symbol of Christianity — the sign of the Cross. But it will not
do on another account, which is, that the witticism of the dagger
was not original yr'ith you, but borrowed from others: and you have
the choice of considering it as a second-handed wit or affected ig-
norance— so that you cannot avail yourself of that child-like sim-
plicity with which you tell the public " It was printed a dagger, and
you supposed it meant a dagger." Pardon me, sir, but you did not
suppose any such thing.
A very large portion of your letter is made up of extracts taken
from my Pastoral Letter, and my Apology in defence of it, as if you
had discovered a discrepancy between them. This is a discovery
which I am sure none of your readers will be able to make. You
say that the Aj)ology " takes back and denies the very gist of the
Pastoral Letter," and you make quotations as if you believed in
your ovi^n assertion. But there is no reader, who is capable of
understanding either, that will discover anything either "taken
back" or "denied" in the one vrhich had been asserted in the other.
The Apology indeed rebukes your misrepresentation of the Pastoral;
and it does nothing more, except to confirm and perhaps explain the
document assailed. You put, from the Apology, a passage in italics,
in which I presume you depend to bear you out in your statement.
It is that, in which I say, in reference to the requirements of the
Pastoral Letter, addressed to the people, that " it will be for (hem-
selves individually to determine whether they shall conform, or not;" and
pray, was not this understood in the Pastoral Letter? The mean-
ing in both is, that it shall not be for Mr. Hale to determine — that
it is a matter which is to be governed by their own sense of moral
and religious duty. There is one other matter to which I must re-
fer before I conclude this part of the s'ubject. It is that in which
we have your authority for the following pretended fact :
"A short time ago," you say, "in one of the churches of this
city, a Catholic priest, at confession, condemned a young woman for
having attended family worship with the family whom she served,
to walk upon her bare knees around the church until the blood
issued freely from her wounds." I agree with you, sir, that if such
a thing took place, it was " cruel and indecent." The only charge
I have to make against the statement is, that it is not according to
the forms of the Catholic Church — and more,^that I aA willing to
LBTTEI^TO DAVID HALE. 839
risk the consequences of asserting before the public that it is false
and unfounded. If it were true, knowing that its publication would
give pain to the whole Gatbolic body, I cannot conceive that you
would have denied your well-known feelings the luxury of publish-
ing it with the names of the parties, the time and place of the oc-
currence. Another reason why I do not believe it true, is, that I
trust there is no priest in this city so devoid of sense — no Catholic
young woman so ignorant and silly as to ha^^e been parties to so
barbarous a transaction ; and further, that there is perhaps no
man in this city who has not arrived at the period of second child-
hood, capable of believing it except yourself There may indeed be
found men who would say they believe it, but at the moment of the
utterance, their interior sense and conviction would accuse them of
uttering what is not true. At all events, you have made the asser-
tion in clear and unequivocal terms, and in this instance you have
avoided a feature common in your style, which is th# blending of
the malice that inflicts a wound, with the artifice and ambiguity
which would escape the responsibility of having dealt the blow.
I call upon you then, since you have made the charge, to substan-
tiate it. I call upon you to give the name of the priest and the
name of the Catholic young woman, and if you do, you shall soon
be convinced that the transaction which you have described, is not
according to the forms of the Catholic Church.
One word, in passing, on making Catholic domestics attend family
worship in houses where a diiferent religion is professed. The prac-
tice of family worship is, in itself, not only commendable, but tender
and interesting. Yet Protestants mistake, it seems to me, not only
the rights of conscience, but their own interests, when they bring
conscience into the account with their servants, as an equivalent for
wages. The conscience of the servant is as free as that of the
master and mistress ; and if I had, as I sometimes have had, Protes-
tant domestics, I should think it sinful to make them attend family
devotion, so long as they were under the impression that they were
offending God by it. A Presbyterian servant in the house of a
Catholic, or a Catholic in the house of a Jew, or a Protestant, ought
to be exempted from the. petty persecution of being compelled to
attend family worship. When the servant gives his or her labor
faithfully and honestly, as an equivalent for the wages that are paidj
the terras of the covenant are fulfilled. Anything beyond that, I
look upon as an invasiori of the rights of conscience. Besides,
Protestants in this, do not understand their own interests. It is
only when they can debauch the conscience of their Catholic servants
by making them hypocrites enough to attend the indefinite worship
of Methodist, Presbyterian, Jew, Baptist, or Unitarian families with
whom they may happen to be earning their wages, by their toilsome
labor ; it is only then, I say, that those masters have occasion to
suspect them. Their safety and the safety of the trusts committed
to their servants, depends on the simplicity and integrity of that
conscience which they have been so ingenious to pervert.
340 AECHBISHOP HTjeHES
Toutell me that my quotation from St. Paul respecting " obe.
dience to prelates," must come from a higher authority betore it
will subdue the royal priesthood of the Tabernacle. Let me quote,
then, the same text from the Protestant Bible— which has the sanc-
tion of a very " high authority," even King James the First.
The words are, " Obey them that have rule over you, and submit
yourselves." Now, not to make a difficulty with you about words,
let us suppose that " prelates " and " them that have rule over you,"
mean the same thing. What is here required is what is done by
the Catholic clergy and laity, to those " who have rule over them."
But I would not answer for the reception, even of the Apostle, if he
came to the Tabernacle to institute among its free thinkers any such
tyrannical rule.
I lia^ e already remarked that I shall not dispute against you the
correctness of any opinion you may be pleased to entertain ; and
there are in connection with these opinions of yours, a great many
discretions as to what point I should answer. First, about the
Pope as a prince and a pontiff. Second, about the pre-eminence
of priests and bishops. Third, about the limitation of powers
which are exercised by divine right in the rules of the Church.
That you should have erroneous ideas upon all these subjects,
does not surprise me ; and, if you asked for information in the name
of the disciple, I should be most happy to afford it, — beginning from
the first question of the Catechism, " Who made you ?" and going
on to the highest mysteries of the Christian faith. But you ask
for information in the character of a disputant ; and in that spirit I
cannot afford to give it. If then you would know the solution of
your questions, I leave you to infer it from a few general principles
of the Catholic Church, pointing out, occasionally, the difference of
the medium through which these principles are regarded by the
Catliolic, as contrasted with the Protestant mind. In the first place
we look upon the Church as having been organized by our Saviour,
on a model which is enduring and unalterable. You, on the other
hand, look upon it as something which may be altered, broken down
and built up, according to the pleasure of men.
Our Saviour presented himself as sent by the Father, and to teach
what things he had learned from him. He taught them — and he
gained disciples. From the disciples, he selected twelve, and he
made them Apostles. From the twelve, he selected one, and he
made him a chief among the Apostles. ■ The powers which he gave
to them all, collectively, he gave to this one, singularly and person-
ally. It was his prerogative, as well as duty, to feed the sheep as
well as the lambs, and to confirm his brethren. Here is the frame-
work of the Christian Church. Christ did not change it, during his
time on earth, and he gave no authority to men, whereby they might
change ft after his ascension. The Church has descended to us^ in
its iirimitive form. The disciples and the apostles have increased
in number over the whole earth; but the chief of the apostleship, ia
one as when first elevated to his singular and special office. Now you,
LBTTBE TO DAVID HALE. 341
as a Protestant, have changed all this. And you view it, not as a
Catholic does, but you view it according to the standard of your
own notions of right and wrong.
Christ communicated what things he had learned from the Father,
to that Church. All believed the same doctrines — but some, besides
believing themselves, were appointed to the office of teachers of all
nations, to teach what things they had learned from their Common
Master. Those who were associated with them, or who succeeded
in the order of time, by lawful appointment, were appointed to dis-
charge the same duties — with no limitation as to space, but the
boundaries of the earth ; or no limitation, as to time, but the con-
summation of the world. The Catholics, however unworthy in our
lives, are constituted heirs and successors in this organization. As
our ministers have no right to give out their opinions ; but only to
teach as witnesses, to the ends of the earth, the truths preserved in
this apostolical and universal society, it follows, as a consequence,
that they have no dominion over the faith of the people. They are
witness of doctrine and not inventors of speculations. The humblest
of their flock can tell when they bear false witness against any truth
attested in the present time, or at any time, by the faith of the whole
Society.
Here then^ is another thing which you, as a Protestant, mvist think
wrong. The ministers of religion with you are not so much teachers
as preachers. They take the Bible — gite out their opinion — and
refer the congregations for the truth of them back to the text.
When they read the text in the Bible at home, they are referred to
their own brain to determine its meaning ; and from the brain results
again — opinion, opinion. Here then is a difference between us.
With us the doctrine of Revelations are facts, resting on the testi-
mony of the Scriptures, rightly understood, confirmed by the unani-
mous faith of the Church from the d.ays of Christ downward ; and,
of course, resting ultimately upon the veracity of God. They are
believed by virtue of that veracity ; and therefore the conviction
which they produce is faith unwavering and constant. With you it
is all opinion. And between these two words, in reference to Chris-
tian Revelation, " Faith" and " Opinion," there is a depth of differ-
ence which you would do well to fathom. The Catholic people are
alone truly independent in their religious belief. No minister of
theirs — no bishop — ^nor Pope — nor all together — have any power to
alter one iota of that sacred deposit, which Christ bequeathed to his
follo:wers. Not so with you. One of your njinisters may, in follow-
ing out the farther lights of what he calls Scripture, deviate himself,
and lead his congregation into the same ranks of socinianism, before
this poor people are aware of it. In matters of this kind they have
no fixed point of departure, from which they might calculate either
their course or distance. Hence the alarm when some new evangeli-
cal impostor arises among your people. If he preaches about the end
of the world in a month or two, and quotes a profusion of Scripture,
which he does not understand, he can have crowds of followers and
342 ARCHBISHOP hughes'
disciples. The same man might preach himself into consumption
before an audience of Catholics, and no matter how learned or how
ignorant they should be, he could never make a convert. Now what
is the reason of this difference? It is that the Catholics hold the
truths whioh God revealed as trutl;is, and believe them by a principle
of faith relying on the divine veracity, — where you, as a Protestant,
believe them, if you believe them at all, in the order of opinions,
more or less probable, according to your interpretation^ of Scripture.
If therefore you go to hear the advocate for the proximate end of
the world, he gives his opinion, quotes Scripture, interprets it, and
this is neither more nor less than is done by your minister at home.
You, then, having no principle of guidance to determine whicB is
right, are as liable to follow the one as the other.
This you call a privilege, but it is the privilege of perpetual insta-
bility and uncertainty of belief. The privilege of being made the
dupe of every artful preacher that pleases — the privilege of freedom.
Be it so. But it was not so that Christ appointed men to perpetuate
his doctrine. The appointed teachers of that doctrine, and disciples
who should learn from their teachers and believe.
Such being the organization of the Church, I have to say but one
word respecting the powers of its chief bishop, and his colleagues in
the ministry. You seem to be alarmed at the fact that the Pope is,
besides, a temporal prince, and at this I should not be surprised if it
came from a school boy of the'G-reen Mountains, who had just gone
as far in his elementary education as the story of the burning of
" John Rogers, and his nine children, with one at the breast !" But
coming from a man of your age and knowledge of the world, the
expression of alarm certainly does surprise me. In order to com-
pose you, therefore, I will merely state the Pope's being a tempo-
ral prince is, in the mind of Catholics, an accident ; and that, as a
temporal prince they look upon him as any other of the rulers of the
earth. The religious relation which they bear to him is not greater
when he is dwelling in the Vatican, than it would be if he were
pining in the prisons of France or the catacombs of Rome. The
duties of his office, and the extent of his power in the Church, are
as well known as those of the President in this Republic. • As a
temporal prince, he has no authority out of his own States. As a
Pope, in his relations with the Church, he belongs to the whole
Catholic world, and in that relation between Catholic and Catholic,
whether Pope or other, there is no such thing as strangers and for-
eigners, but all are citizens and domestics of God.
I do not mention any of these things in the . supposition that you
will approve of them. As a Protestant, and considering the distorted
and distorting influence of your education, in reference to the Cath-
olic Church, I suppose you regard all this as one great abomination.
If this be your opinion I can only oppose the unanimous one hundred
and eighty millions of Catholics, throughout the world, who look
upon all this as a most merciful institution of God, for the guidance
of the wandering intellect of man ; and for carrying on those eternal
■S-M
LETTEE TO DAVID HALE. 343
interests of our race, for which his Divine Son suffered on the tree.
This Society has survived the hostility and the revolutions of the
world for eighteen hundred years. Its members enjoy peace of soul,
and security in its communion ; and the only privilege which they
ask of you is the privilege of enjoying for themselves the same right
of choice which you claim and exercise. Should you, however, be
cruel enough to deny it, they will claim it without your permis-
sion— though not without the risk of having " false witness borne,
against them" both in the Journal of Commerce and the Broadway
Tabernacle.
Pardon me, sir, if I offend you by prefixing the symbol of redemp-
tion to my unworthy name, while I subscribe myself
Your obedient servant,
« >h JOHN- HUGHES, Bishop, etc.
New York, Nov. 14, 18|2.
Right Rev'd Bishop Hughes to David Hale, Esq.
Sir : I have read your letter of the 19th instant, in reply to mine
of the 14th, and there is so little in it to the point, that I think the
public will soon be relieved from the tedium of our discussion. In
fact, the only object for which I addressed you was to tie you hard
and fast to certain injurious statements which you had put forth
against me, and compel you, as far as moral influence could have
that power, either to prove them, or to stand before the public as
a man who bears false witness against his neighbor. I thought you
could not prove them ; and it only remains to show, that the hair-
splitting of your last letter cannot screen you from the verdict
which you would now be willing to escape from.
You represented me as requiring Catholics to " abjure societies,"
under penalties, which you exaggerated in your first strictures on
my Pastoral Letter. This was false testimony — for, I defined the
character of the societies to which I had referred — as, " certain
societies ;" — and these, " as generally designalted as Sbcket Socie-
ties," " bound together by oaths or other religious obligations."
You represent me as denouncing " societies," without qualification
or distinction!
This might have happened inadvertently in the first Instance ; but
your attempt in your last letter, to vindicate this perversion, shows,
either that you intended to misrepresent me, and, therefore, acted
from a dishonest purpose ; or else, that you are utterly ignorant of
the first principles of logic.
Suppose you had written that men should not encourage " certain
vile editors," who are generally designated "indecent editors," —
that is conductors of indecent papers. And suppose 1 should pro-
claim that you attacked Editors generally, by omitting the qualifica-
tions " vile and indecent," you would have just reason to charge me'
344
with injurious misrepresentations. And yet, as I should have em-
ployed the word "Editors," and you had employed the word
" Editors," what kind of a pitiable evasion would it be for me to
say, in the words of your last letter, " I quoted your precise lan-
guage !" Sir, this is trifling, unworthy of the conductor of a public
press ; unworthy of a professor of the Christian Religibn.
Next, — I did not say that the Quakers required their members to
abjure Societies; but I said what every man acquainted with their
usages must know ; namely, that they cut off from the rights of in-
terment, those who, while living, violated the rules, and forfeited
the communion of their Society.
Again : you take me to task for seeming to doubt whether you
really suppose that the " cross," as printed, meant " a dagger."
For this doubt you say you will not forgive me, although I pleaded
your pardon. " Every man," you add, " has a right to speak of the
movements within his own breast, and in a society of gentlemen,
has a right to be believed." I stand corrected, since you put it on
the ground of " courtesy." When you say that you supposed it a
dagger, courtesy requires that I should believe you, and I do be-
lieve you, accordingly. If a man opens his door to my visit, and
tells that he is not at home, I am bound, in courtesy, to acquiesce.
Tour case is much stronger than this. But, in making the state-
ment, I really took it for granted that you could not be serious, in
fact, that you were quizeing. How could I suppose that you were
ignorant of the custom which prevails, and has prevailed, for centu-
ries among bishops, of prefixing the sign of the Cross to their offi-
cial signatures !
In all civilized countries it is customary among gentlemen to treat
the ministers of religion with, at least, the ordinary courtesy which
they observe towards each other — and when I remembered the
style in which you thought proper to present my name before the
public, in your strictures on my Pastoral Letter, it was quite natu-
ral for me to regard you as wishing to be a wag, whatever else you
might, or might not, be. Your words are these—" We do not
think it necessary for us to notice Pastoral Letters generally, but
this John is the same man who headed a political meeting, last yeai',
for the nomination of members of Assembly, and has shown, in
various ways, that he can turn his hand to Pastoral Politics as well
as Religion, and as he avows himself the appointee of a foreign
Prince, who not only issues bulls, but raises armies, makes war, de-
thrones kings (or did once) and overturns nations, it is right enough
to examine a little the horns of the bulls which he sets to roaring
among us. * * * The letter is signed John Hughes with a
dagger." I do not stop to point out the false statements in this
quotation, although they are as thick as it would be well possible to
pack them, within the same compass ; but I merely suggest the in-
quiry whether such coarse language is in accordance with the rules
of courtesy ? Whether it was not natui;al for me, to suppose that
the writer was ambitious to pass for a wit, or a wag, as you may
XETTEE TO DAVID HALE. 345
choose ? And wbetlier it was possible for me to imagine, that the
author of such a passage could ever dream of throwing himself back
on the reserved rights of a gentleman ? I hope these circumstances
will extenuate somewhat m.y mistake, when I took it for" granted
that you could not be serious in mistaking the cross for " a dag-
ger ;" but at all events, how was it possible for me to anticipate
that the author of such a wanton and coarse attack, should even as-
sume to play the "Magister Elegantiarium " — the arbiter of the
courtesy among gentlemen ! ! Leaving this aside, then, I think it
hard that you, professing, at least, to be a Christian, should refuse .
to forgive me for a mistake into which your style had betrayed
me. I, on the contrary, forgive you, in my mind, regularly twice a
day ; and as often, besides, as I happen to think of you and the
" Journal of Commerce."
So, after all, you are obliged to back out of the false accusation
respecting the priest who, as you alleged, made a 'Catholic girl walk
round the church on her knees, " until the blood issued freely from
her wounds." I thought so. And now, for your information, let
me tell you that I had nothing to do with the " promises made," at
the Washington Hall, or elsewhere. You asserted then, a gross
calumny, which you were never able to prove. I had nothing to do
with calling upon you for the proofs of it. I knew it would be use-
less. I never made allusion to the subject in public, and all the
statements in the " Journal of Commerce," representing me in that
business, you may add as an appendix to the false statements
already noticed. Other gentlemen thought proper to call on you,
and demand proof, but I did not. And, after all, how did you get
out of the scrape ? Three lines, giving the name of the priest
whom you accused, and the parties in the accusation, would have
been sufficient. Instead of this, you waited some two or three
months, until — from anonymous pamphlets — hasty and inconsider-
ate proceedings, involving the reputation of fifteen or twenty gen-
tlemen, who were in no wise connected with your statement, had
been raked together by the industry of some scavenger of scandal
who appeared to be at your command, and all that mass was pre-
sented, in several columns of the Journal of Commerce, as the proof
of a fact, which, if it had been true, could have been establisbed in a
half dozen lines of a single column ; and because the gentlemen
who did call on you did not think proper to re-agitate such a varie-
ty of questions, involving the private feelings and character of so
many persons, you escaped from the exposure, respecting a single
and malignant charge, which you have done so much to merit.
It is related in the history of the persecutions of Ireland that a
poor Catholic was on his trial for murder, and though there was no
witness against him — though the man was alive at the tiine, who
was said to have been murdered — though the judge charged the
jury accordingly — still, they brought him in guilty, on the plea that
though he was innocent of thai crime, he had committed others be-
fore, and, therefore, ought to be hanged. Out of Ireland, I pre-
346 AECIIBISHOP HTJGHES'
sume, the aunals of malevolence never furnished a nearer approacli
to the ethics of thai jury, than was found in your reply to the proofs
demanded of you, by the gentlemen at Washington Hall.
On the subject, of the petty persecutions of conscience that are
carried on against servants in a few, generally speaking, obscure
families, I am glad to perceive that my remarks have awakened in
your breast symptoms of humanity and good feeling. It is not I,
but the religion which they profess, that forbids Cathohcs from
joining in the forms of worship belonging to Jews, Presbyterians,
Unitarians, or others, with whom they may live. You say that
the CathoKcs, in reference to religion, have nothing but opinion to
depend on, like their Protestant fellow-citizens. I am surprised at
this. As, however, you do not appear to be a proficient in dialectics,
I will furnish you with some illustrations which may aid you in
comprehending " a difference " which you do not seem to under-
stand. The doctrines of the Constitution, in civil matters, are
facts, and not opinions. The appointment of judges, to determine
what those facts are, is itself a fact, and not an opinion. Their
uniform decision, with respect to those facts, is also a fact, and not
an opinion. 'Now, this will correspond with the dogmas of revela-
tion, and the living authorities, at all times contemporaneous with
their existence and descent, to determine what they are. This,
although every human comparison fails, may illustrate to your mind
what 1 meant to assert with regard to the facts, which are believed
in the CathoHc Church. In the faith of that Church there is no
teaching of opinion whatever — there never has been — there never
can be. What is opinion in the Catholic Church, is something not
included in the Revelations of God.
When He has vouchsafed to speak, what he says is a fact, a truth
to be believed, not an opinion to be tried at the bar of man's feeble
reason, and, therefore, opinion forms no part of the Church's doc-
trines. You would not, perhaps, understand this so well, if I did
not furnish the counterpart which belongs to you as a Protestant.
Supposing you, in your civil ' capacity, were to hold that the doc-
trines of the Constitution are mere opinions written out in plain
English, which everybody can understand and interpret for him-
self; and that, therefore, there is no weerf of judges — and that, if
judges have decided otherwise, it was a usurpation on their part
upon the rights of the people, who are abject enough to submit to
it. You would then exemplify in your relations to the State, that
which you now contend for, in your ideas of the economy of reve-
lation. But every other individual would have the same right as
yourself, and the Constitution would thus soon come to mean what
the_ Bible, in yovr hands, is now made to mean ; that is, everything
which a man, by perverting its true meaning, is pleased to adopt as
his own opinion. Now, just reflect a little upon this ; as an imper-
fect illustration of the difference between /ac^s and opinions, in ref-
erence to the faith -nhich Christ and his Apostles established in the
world .
LETTEB TO DAVID HALE. 347
I thought, however, that the authority of King James' Bible would
have satisfied you with respect to the officers in the Church whom
the people are directed to " obey." You say that neither " prelates"
nor " those who rule" are intended by the Apostle ; but that he
meant " leading men" ! ! ! and you yourself claim for " leading men"
that they should be "treated with deference, respect, and obedience."
Very well. Let us suppose it to be "leading men," for argument's
sake — for I will go a great way to accommodate you. Why then
did you not allow me the advantage of your own interpretation
when I published my Pastoral Letter ? You will admit, I presume,
that I am a " leading man" among the Catholics. Why, then, since
you proclaim that as such I should have been treated with " defer-
ence, respect, and obedience," why, I say, did you preach up to
them disregard, disrespect and disobedience towards me ? And in
doing this, why did you go further, by bearing false witness against
me ? Why did you say I attacked the institutions of the country ?
Why did you charge them with unfitness to enjoy the blessings of
liberty, if they should treat their " leading man" as the Bible directs
him to be treated according to your own interpretation ?
As to your opinions, as you know, I will not dispute any of them.
In like manner, I shall avoid anything like religious controversy with
you. This for several reasons : First, Because in the matter of dis-
cussion alone, you show yourself so utterly unacquainted with the
ordinary rules of reasoning, as not to be able to appreciate an argu-
ment, or to know when you are driven from a false position. Sec-
ondly, Because I suspect you are but ill acquainted with any system
of religion ; and perhaps unable to define your belief.' Thirdly, Be-
cause I do not venture too much in stating that you are entirely
ignorant of the Catholic religion except as you may have learned it
from the " Key of Popery," and other classical and theological works,
of similar distinction. Did you ever in your life read a Catholic
book of any acknowledged authority in the Church ? I doubt it ;
and if you did, was it in that sincere mood and disposition of mind
which is requisite to understand what the doctrines of the Catholic
Church really are ? Or, on the contrary, did you not read it rather
as the deist reads the Bible — for the purpose of extracting from it
the weapons for its overthrow ? In any of these contingencies, it is
evident that what you stand in need of, is not argument so much as
information. And if you really desire information on this subject, I
shall be most happy to affiDrd it, both by offering you the use of my
library, and furnishing such aid by oral communications as your case
may require. I shalfbe prepared to solve every objection, which
may occur to you in the investigation, as far as my ability will go.
Then when you have learned what the Catholic Church really is, you
will be qualified to enter on a disputation against it, but not before.
I do not make these observations in the spirit of disrespect. Far
from it. No man can excel in every department, and, of course, I
am willing to acknowledge that I should be as utterly disqualified
for a discussion with you on political economy, the science of bank-
348 AECHBISHOP HTJGHBS
ing, or the details of commerce, as you are for a discussion on the
subject of the Catholic religion.
In the mean time, your strictures on my Pastoral Letter abound
with so many unfounded charges, that I shall, without classifying
them, make a little enumeration of those that are most palpable.
You say :
1. That I " have led my followers to the polls."
2. That in my Pastoral Letter I " have attacked the civil institu-
tions of this country."
3. That I " have required Catholics to abjure societies" (without
distinction).
4. That a Catholic priest condemned a young woman " to walk
upon her bare knees around the church until the blood issued freely
from her wounds."
Now, sir, if these charges are true, prove them. If they are not
true, retract them, and entitle yourself thereby to the respect of
honorable men. But, sir, in demanding proof it will not do for you
to ^epend wpon false statements found in your own columns or else-
where. Tell me on the testimony of a witness when or where or
whom I led to the polls.
2d. Point out the passage in my Pastoral Letter in which I have
" attacked the civil institutions of this country."
3d. Show me where I have required Cathohcs " to abjure socie-
ties," other than those which are designated " secret," and bound
together by an oath or other religious obligation.
4th. Give me the name of the priest and of the Catholic young
woman who were parties to " walking around the church on her
knees till the blood issued freely from her wounds."
All these are things not above your comprehension. If these are
true you must have the means of proving them. If they are not
true you ought to be ashamed of yourself. But whether you will
or not, I shall conclude by wishing you may " live a thousand years,"
and learn that when a Catholic bishop puts the sign of the Cross be-
fore his signature it is the symbol of Christianity you see, and not a
" dagger," as you " supposed."
^ JOHN" HUGHES, Bishop, etc.
New York, Nov. 21, 1842.
To L)avid Hale, Esq^. :
Sir — I have read your letter in the Journal of Commerce of this
morning. A few words will be sufficient in reply.
You state that want of leisure has prevented you from giving to
my last letter that attention which it deserves. This is precisely
what I anticipated. Under the strongest conviction that you had
" borne false witness against your neighbor," it occurred to me that
you would find yourself wonderfully oppressed for want of time,
when it should be necessary to furnish the proof of your statements.
LETTER TO DAVID HALE. 349
It was partly on this account that I contrived to make your task so
simple and so easy ; for after all, the question bet'ween us is not a
question in New Orleans, but a question here in New York. Tlie
matter between us was stated at the close of my last letter, in the
condensed form of the following words :
In the mean time your strictures on my Pastoral Letter abound
with so many unfounded charges, that I shall, without classifying
them, make a little enumeration of those that are are moat palpable.
You say :
1. That I " ha-ve led my followers to the polls."
2. That in my Pastoral Letter I "ha-se attacked the civil institu-
tions of this country."
3. That I " have required Catholics to abjure societies" (without
distinction).
4. That a Catholic priest condemned a young woman " to walk
upon her bare knees around the church until the blood issued freely
from her wounds."
Now, sir, if these charges are true, prove them. If they are not
true, retract them and entitle yourself thereby to the respect of hon-
orable men. But, sir, in demanding proof, it will not do for you to
depend upon /aZse statements found in your own columns or elsewhere.
Tell me on the testimony of a witness when or lohere or whom I led
to the polls.
2d. Point out the passage in my Pastoral Letter in which I " have
attacked the civil institutions of this country."
3d. Show me where I have required Catholics to "abjure socie-
ties," other than those which are designated " secret," and bound
together by an oath or other religious obligation.
4th. Give me the name of the priest and of the Catholic young
woman who were parties to her " walking round the church on her
knees till the blood issued freely from her wounds."
All these are things not above your comprehension. If they are
true you must have the means of proving them. If they are not
true you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Such were some of the statements you had made. And I assumed
that a man making pretensions to Christian morality would not make
such statements without being authorized by certain proof of their
being correct and true. This proof, then, is all that I demanded as
above.
You allege that you " have not had time," after more than two
weeks, to furnish the proof Pardon me, sir, if I must reject this
statement, unless, indeed, you require me to admit it "by courtesy."
My first reason respecting it is, that the proofs, if they were in your
possession, could have been furnished in twenty-five minutes. My
second reason is, that though you could not find twenty-five minutes
for that purpose, you have been able to find time to translate a long
document of anti-Catholic matter, issued by the trustees of a church
in New Orleans.
Neither do you appear to have been pressed of time in this opera-
350
AECIIBISHOP HUGHES.
tion, since you seem to have considered other possible translations of
the document; and tell us that "there is not a sentence which might
not have been translated some other way." I shall not criticize
your translation, for I hold both the translation and the original to
be of small importance. I could furnish you with a bushel of such
documents ; and the reason why I notice your translation at all, is
the difficulty which the time spent on it presents to my mind, in
contrast with another statement of yours, in which you assert that
you had not leisure enough to " attend" to my letter !
Will you have the goodness to reconcile this apparent discrepancy
between two of your own statements ; whilst I, waiting for the proofs
of your former assertions, remain
Your obedient servant,
'»{« JOHN HUGHES, Bislop, etc.
December 15, 1842.
INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 351
RT. REV. BISHOP HUGHES' LECTURE,
DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
JANUARY OTH, 1843, BEFORE THE CATHOLIC LIBRARY
SOCIETY.
Subject : — Influence of Christianity upon Civilization.
[The following lecture was announced to be delivered on December 22d, 1842,
but the Rt. Rev. Bishop Dubois having died on the 20th of December, it was, in
consequence, postponed until the 5th of January, 1843.]
" Civilization" is a word in our language which all who under-
derstand the language comprehend, but of which it might, perhaps,
be difficult to give a definition that would convey an absolute mean-,
ing. It is, like so many other words, relative, and not absolute.
Every one knows what it means in a general way, but there is no
fixed standard whereby to determine its absolute value. It is un-
derstood to express the condition of society living under fixed prin-
ciples and laws, in mutual and social relations with each other ; and,
therefore, wherever this exists, there must be, in some degree at
least, civilization. And it is not a little remarkable that human na-
ture, being the same in all ages, wherever Christianity has not pene-
trated, there is eithei; no civilization, or civilization on the lowest
possible scale. 'Sot only there, but wherever Christianity has de-
parted from a land, there you find the movement retrograde ; and
mankind, although possessed of all their powers of reason, and all
their natural faculties, without that spirit and feeling, relapsing, if
not into, at least towards, primitive barbai'ism. We, in our age, are
enjoying the blessings of civilization to a very large extent (it is
not to be supposed that they have reached their perfection yet;
nevertheless they are in very ample development) ; and it is natural
for us, in this as in other things, to trouble ourselves little about the
means by which mankind — society — that moral being — ^that aggre-
gate of human mind and human feeling — should be in the position
of enjoying those blessings. Soinetimes we pride ourselves in their
enjoyment, but seldom inquire how it was that these blessings have
been accumulated and brought to their present perfection. If, then,
I enter on this subject Somewhat, let it not be supposed that I pre-
sent to you the highest value of Christianity. Let it not be supposed
that I would, even honorable as it is to revelation, make this th«
primary, or supreme, end of its comrsunication to man. N"o.' It
has two aspects. One is all divine, looking to God. One, contem-
352 ARCHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE.
plating man, not in his temporal existence, tut in Ms eternal state
of being. And that seems to be the direct object of Christianity.
But it is a remarkable thing, as observed by Montesquieu in his
"Spirit of Laws," and an admirable thing, that religion,^ which ap-
pears to have been intended exclusively for our happiness in a future
life, is also to serve for the support of our felicity in the present.
And it is that indirect effect, that temporal effect, that social influ-
ence of the Christian religion, of which I treat ; not as its primary,
but as its secondary, yet exceedingly important, result. _ Our fore-
fathers, having all the mind naturally that we have, having all the
affection that we have, having even a larger portion of physical power
of endurance and exertion, were barbarians notwithstanding ; and
wherever you can trace the line, that is the verge of Christianity ;
understand and know that beyond that is barbarism. If, then, I
speak of the subject selected, it is not, knowing as I do the nature
of my own function, which is to speak to men of Heaven, and of
God and of Eternity, and of the sacred and mysterious things of that
religion, it is not that I would raise these mere temporal considera-
tions to an equality of appreciation. But it is that even as regards
that which constitute the cement and the strength and the ornament
of social life, I should also point out to you that it is to the Great
Author of our redemption that we are indebted for all. Christi-
anity on the other hand is itself, so far as it is exemplified in the
life of its Divine Author, perfect as its source. Then, communicated
to man, it is a principle planted in the heart — it is a conviction — a
religious conviction — it is a sentiment — it is in itself, if I might so
speak, the opposite of all that is physical or all that constitutes
physical power. It is not intended by its Divine Author (for if it
were it would have accomplished its purpose) to destroy absolutely
the free will of man, so as to change him by its divine influence
against his will into a perfect being. But it is a sentiment by which,
if a man guide himself, he will be as perfect as it is possible for his
nature to be. If, then, Christianity, in its descent down to us, side by
side, and intimately connected and interwoven with the progress of
social life, has not made individuals and families and communities
and nations happy, it is because it has had to operate on a nature
that is evil. Man is naturally evil. It points out to him the way
of goodness ; but it does not compel him by either moral or invin-
cible coercion of any kind to embrace it. This remark is exceed-
ingly important in reference to the view of the subject which I am
about to take. Because, as errors on this point are often to be met
with in our age, when there is so much to be read, and on account
of the quantity, so superficially too, it is important for us to make
that distinction ; and instead of holding Christianity or Religion or
the Church responsible for the evil that has occurred, rather to
ascribe that evil "o its proper source, and understand that the good
which has resulted came from the religion, whilst the evil itself came
from the corrupt and depraved heart of man, on whom that religion
could make no impression. This, then, is an important distinction
INFLUENCE OP CIIEISTIANITT UPOJT CIVILIZATION. 353
to be made. For here, in speaking of past ages, or speaking of the
forms, the phases, at different times and in different countries, pre-
sented to our contemplation by social life, it is customary in many
quarters to charge religion, the only remedy for the evil of these
times, as if it were responsible for the evils it could not prevent !
And we never can appreciate tLe advantages of religion in the im-
provement of the social condition — the correction of the passions of
the human heart — the amelioration of the social institutions, laws,
usages, and manners, unless we make that distinction and draw the
line broadly between what religion recommended and what it has
been able to accomplish, and that which it recommended, but which
men in the stubbornness of their pride and obduracy of their hearts
refused to perform. It is singularly remarkable that the Author of
our religion, neither in his public preaching during his brief minis-
try on earth, nor in the writings of his Apostles — left by inspiration
after his ascension — has so much as one word in reference to the
improvement which should occur in the world by virtue of the doc-
trines he had promulgated. There is not a word about the fevils
which existed, and which penetrated' into all society at the time He
lived on our earth. There is not a word of the iniquities prevailing,
not a word of recommendation to his Apostles to overturn these
governments, even if they had the power ; not a promise that they
should become rich, or happy, or powerful, in a worldly point of
view ; but on the contrary, if there be a prediction shadowed forth
at all, it is that they should be the especial victims of the world's
persecution. Nevertheless, it would be impossible even then, for a
iTtind capable of appreciating on this point of view the effects of his
doctrines, not to see that in the principles of justice, the principles
of truth, the principles of fraternity, the principles of holiness, which
his doctrines embodied, there was enough to give sure promise that
if these doctrines ever took root in the world, they must of them-
selves and of necessity, as a little leaven, gradually leaven the whole
mass. It is in the -first promulgation of these doctrines that you see
the germ of civilization. This was not, so far as the text goes, so
far as the fact speaks, the intention for which the doctrine was itselt
spread abroad, but it was of necessity to be its effect. Because for
the first time He conferred honor on human nature, and He taught
his disciples to love their neighbor as themselves. He called them
once " servants," but aftgrwards He called them " brethren ;" and
after all, if you will examine and trace to its primitive origin the
whole amelioration of the social condition, from the time that He pro-
claimed his doctrine on the earth, you will not find this so much in
any specific text as in the great conviction of the fundamental doc-
trine of his own person and of his own nature. Cast your eyes
abroad over all the nations of whom we have any knowledge from
antiquity, and you will find man, as to his nature, despised. You will
find, turning over the pages of the Persian, Egyptian, and Grecian
historian, that man in himself was esteemed of no value, that the
line was almost invisible between him in whom was concentrated
23
354 AECumsiioP hughes' lecttjee.
absolute power, which he exercised as tyrants always will, and the
I'est of the people — they were groaning beneath his iron sceptre ;
that there was but one monarch, and the rest slaves of various
.grades and different conditions. If you look, then, at the great
theatre of Roman domination, you will find that in Rome, with all
its pretended civilization, the sume feature prevailed. The citizens
of Rome, when we read and read hastily, we suppose to have been
pretty much like our own citizens. But there can be no conception
more erroneous than this. The Roman citizen was as one perhaps to
ten thousand; and the plebeian race, and above all the slaves, were as
persons of no value; hecause they were not citizens, and because not
having that special privilege, their nature, although like that of the
others, stamped with the image of God, was not appreciated. There
was nothing to give them value. And the great idea of the great
lever which Christianity presented for the elevation of the human
race, was the doctrine that the Divine Son became man, and in be-
coming man elevated human nature by its union with the divine
nature in the same person ! This is the origin ; and if you start
from the fountain and behold these waters of regeneration bursting
forth from their primitive source, and watch them as they meandered
and divided, now into one stream of benevolence, now into another,
now into the improvement of legislation, now into the mitigation of
the civil condition of the slave, and as they passed from nation to
nation, and age to age, you will see in all their branches this power
and efficacy, because God had ennobled humanity by the " Word"
being " made Flesh and dwelling amongst men."
It is further to be observed that the lesson which first united the
disciples together was a lesson of love and of fraternity. And it no
doubt entered into the providence of God that that which was a
doctrine and an affection should become, through the manner of its
development, a standard of imitation to spread from the centre to
the circumference of the world. The first lesson of equality, prac-
tical equality, we can trace to the catacombs of Rome, where those
who professed Christianity were obliged to hide themselves from
Pagan persecution. You will behold there the bishop of that city,
and the noble senator, and the freedman, and the slave — all, as
brethren, assembled around the altar on which they ofiered sacrifice
to their God, and near the sepulchre which was to contain their
consecrated remains. The first lesson vias , one of suffering and
humility ; and whilst the Christian Church was in this situation of
suffering, it is not to be expected that she, either by her external
development of the moral principle with which God has inspired
her, or by any other influence, could exercise any power over the
usages which then prevailed. Nevertheless, if you watch the
progress of Roman legislation, you will find that even before the
empire professed the Christian name the harsh spirit of that
legislation was mitigated. Many of its stern and cruel featureg
were changed for others of greater mildness ; and there is strong
ii'eason to belie\e that the reflection of the example and usages of
INFLUBlSrCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 355
the obscure and persecuted Christians was shed even on the mind
and heart of him- who wielded the imperial sceptre. Until then 'the
slave, under Roman civilization, had no protection of any kind.
Until then the slave belonged to his master as the ox belonged ;
even the attribute of humanity «'as denied him ; he was called a
thing — "res" — and not a man. His master could kill and destroy
him at his pleasure ; and it is known that the slaves, even whilst at
labor, were bound with chains of iron, and at night were compelled
to retire to the caverns of the earth, with only an opening as a me-
dium of breathing the air of heaven. We know that, in his caprice,
the master sent one of his slaves to be devoured alive by the fishes
in his pond, for no reason except that, in awkwardly attending the
banquet, he allowed a crystal vase to fall and be broken. We know
another instance, in which four hundred slaves were directed to be
taken between files of soldiers and massacred — for what crime think
ye ? . None, but that their master had been assassinated, and they
would not tell by whom ; possibly because they could not ! But it
was to be presumed that it could not have occurred without the
knowledge of the slaves, and therefore the slaves were to forfeit
their lives to that inconsiderate and barbarian law. Now we find
the first modification of that law under the subsequent emperors.
But if such was the manner in which the slaves were treated, let us
see what was the manner in which that first element of social exist-
ence, the family, was regulated. A family is in itself a State ; it is
a corporation in which there is form, and dominion, and order ; and
the Christian family presents a spectacle which would have aston-
ished the ancients, who could not have admitted the possibility of
the existence of such a perfect organization in domestic life. The
Roman family was not a natural family. It was a civil one, regu-
lated by the law ; and under that law the father owned his children
just as he did his slaves. He could kill them both. The mother
could do so at their birth, without any crime against the State ; or
the father, at any subsequent period ; he could sell them, or disjDose
of them as he pleased. If you can imagine, then, such a family, and
an aggregate of such families, you will have some idea of that free
Rome, so-called, where the law protected the father, and' secured
this power to him, which he might exercise as arbitrarily- as he
thought proper, so long as he lived. The child was incapable of
acquiring anything. All that he acquired belonged not to him, for
he belonged not to himself, but to his father. And when death re-
moved that father, then he himself passed, by a- sudsien transition,
from the condition of a slave to that of the tyrant under whom he
had previously lived. Would you speak of- that so immediately
connected with the family — the marriage bond ? You will find that
the wife was scarcely the companion of the husband'. She was, it is
true, not called a slave ; she was called ai wife. But she was, both
on account of her sex and on that "of relation, a being in this condi-
tion of society, having no rights- from the hour of her birth until she
went to her grave. She oould not bequeath to her child anything ;
356 AECHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE,
no, not even a token of affection, without permission. During her
minority she belonged to her father, and after her marriage she be-
longed to her husband. And the consequences of this, in the grow-
ing depravity of that corrupt community, were such as respect for
the modesty and the feeling which, thanks to Christianity, exist in
your bosoms, prevents me from describing in any way.
After this period, then, of which this is but a faint outline, you
find a new order of things introduced when Constantine professes
the Christian religion, and in a very brief period you find the first
law enacted towards the emancipation of the slaves ; laws also
enacted for the relief of the poor ; and the first external manifestar
tions of the feelings apd of the principles which Christianity had
implanted in the heart, and which had exhibited no direct power
before. Then succeeds rapidly — for in a matter of this kind I must
pass very cursorily — the decline of that empire and that people so
fond of blood, especially in this last and most corrupt stage ; that
people, who could amuse the multitudes in the amphitheatres' with
the spectacle of Christians devoured by the lions of Africa ; .that
people, who could season their banquets with the agonies of naked
gladiators piercing each other's breasts ; that period of blood and
voluptuousness — the bloody star of their dominion now set for ever.
Then came in a new order. Those hordes from the north of Europe
and Asia — the Huns, Goths and Yandals — rushed upon the empire
as a deluge, as if the cataracts of heaven had been again opened,
and the great fountains of the earth had burst forth afresh ; one tide
rising above its fellow, and rolling onward as if to blot out the
bloody foot-prints of that iron-hearted race, who had made the earth
groan beneath the weight of their violence and crime. (Loud ap-
plause.) These invaders were not Christians. They came, not
knowing their own mission, but with a kind of instinct in their
hearts — a kind of dim idea that God had destined them to become
the scourge of that empire ; so much so that Attila, who boasted
that " where the hoof of his steed once struck the earth, the grass
never grew again," boasted also that he was the " Scourge of God."
But he was only one of a series who came, one after another, de-
stroying everything that had resulted from the operation of the
Roman mind, and the progress of Roman civilization. Yet whilst
those torrents of barbarism spread over the empire, religion and her
ministers were also there ; and the ship of the Church, mounting on
these waves, with its crew inspired by the promises of their glorified
Master, was now employed in gathering, hea^e and there, the frag-
ments of literature, science, and the arts of civilization which floated
on the surface, and would , otherwise have perished utterly and for
ever. (Applause .) This was their occupation. The very form in
which God had appointed that his, Church should develop itself,
became, in the goodness of his providence, the means of preservmg
these benefits to future ages. He, instilling his doctrines into the
simple-hearted followers who surrounded him,, selected twelve, and
of thejaa he chose one; aqd th"s constituted a society, organized
IJ?FLUENCB OF CUKISTIANITT UPOK CITILIZATIOIT. 357
with its own peculiar government and powers of goVernmeBt within
itself. You cannot read the history of those ages without seeing
how intimately the Church and State were blended together ; and
you cannot, perhaps, refrain from expressing your indignation at
the discovery. You may not have understood the explanation of
this fact. Christianity and the Church have nothing to do with the
State. Their mission is from heaven to man. Men believe it, and
its end again is heaven. So that if the Pope — the first bishop of
the Chui'ch ; the successor of him who was taken from the twelve,
and appointed one to whom was given power not given to others —
if he becomes an important personage in secular or political matters,
in after times, do not suppose that he is so by virtue of any warrant
he received from his Divine Master. His oiEce and these things
are, in themselves. Utterly separate.
" How did it occur then," it will be asked, " that strange union of
Church and State — ^that intertwining of the fibres of the one with
the other, so that it is almost impossible, by reading history, to dis-
tinguish the limits, and in fact that it occasioned perpetual strug-
gles of the one power against the other, in which each had its own
mode of warfare, appropriate to its own nature and character ?" It
is easy to explain all this. When civilization was destroyed ; when
the Roman provinces were pillaged by a new and barbarous race, .
who refused to adopt any of the manners of the people whom they
had subdued and annihilated, and who would not stoop to learn
wisdom from the conquered; in a word, when men without culti-
vation, without literature or laws, occupied that empire, was it not
a great mercy that in that ship of the Church, which rode triumph-
antly on the wave of barbarism, there shonld ha\'e been found men
capable of teaching these barbarians ? This was the origin of the
union of Church and State. The very nature of the office sustained
by the ministers of religion kept them in contact .with mankind.
What are they sent for but to convert the heart ; to subdue the
natural ferocity of men ; to make them love each other ? How, then,
could they abstain from intercourse with mankind ? and how could
they have that intercourse without imparting some of that light to
the taper of him who was in darkness, and came within the reach
of their illuminating influence ? When the whole social fabric was
broken down, what remained to be done, except that these men
should exert themselves in gathering up and restoring all the frag-
ments of what was valuable ; in re-eonstructing the social edifice,
and regenerating the afieotions and enlightening the minds of the
new nation springing into existence ? It was thus that the early
ministers of the Church laid the enduring foundations of the modern
and boasted civilization.
If you find, then, that the Church came to have infiuence in the
State, do not impute it to the ambition of her ministers, although it
is proper to acknowledge that even these men, high and holy as
was their calling, would not be in all cases above the influence of
that feeling more than other men. They were men ; a;iid as men
358 jBCiiBisHOP hughes' lectuee.
they would be operated on, more or less, by the ordinary feelinga
to which our nature is subject. But examine the page of history,
and you will find that if they had influence— if they began to be
arbitrators, and from that to be, as it was natural, magistrates and
judges of the peace — it was because they had gained the confidence
of the people by whom they were surrounded ; because their mis-
sion and cliaracter inspired those people with respect," and led them
to confide in their ability and will to render that justice which they
might have elsewhere sought in vain. And so general was the feel-
ing of popular confidence and desire to seek the counsel and judg-
ment of the Church, that her ministers were often obliged to devote
much of their time to these works. In the writings of St. Augus-
tine we find that when he wished to call on St. Ambrose, he found
him " so surrounded by clients that it was difficult to gain an au-
dience." And at that time and subsequently, also, but especially at
that period when all the regular organization of government was
dissolved, the Christians had in their minds that admonition of St.
Paul to the Corinthians when he seemed to have been scandalized at
them for referring their disputes to the Pagan judges, and exhorted
them to refer them to some of their own communion.
They applied that admonition, and because these ministers of re-
ligion in the constitution of society were the persons to whom the
people would naturallyflock, as men not having families of their own —
no interest to interfere with their pursuit of holy things — they natu-
rally became the umpires and judges, the duties of which offices they
were well fitted to discharge with propriety, from their superior
learning, and their vastly superior integrity. (Loud applause.) We
know that historians, and even ecclesiastical historians, boast of the
conduct of Constantine when he assisted at the great Council of
Nice with the bishops, and though emperor of the world, as might
be said, yet was so humble that he would not allow himself to ex-
press an opinion in the matter. But in the final issue it could not
but turn out a misfortune that the emperor was present on such an
occasion, and we accordingly find that he who was so humble and
respectful to the ministers of religion, lived long enough so to ap-
preciate his own power in relation to the Church as in the contro-
versies between the orthodox and the Arians to take upon himself
the decision of the question, without the slightest hesitation, and
banished into exile such of the bishops as refused to acquiesce.
From that time forward if you find the bishops entering more or
less into the counsels of the king or of the State, it is because the
latter were ignorant, and the bishops enhghtened. It was because
the State officials wished to borrow from the light of the bishop, as
he, from his character, position and bearing had manifested that
lo\e of human nature which was now prized, not by any earthly
consideration, but by its equivalent of value in the idea that man
had been raised by the Incarnation for the enjoyment of his primi-
tive destiny. (Applause.)
Going on, you will come to the origin of monastic institutions.
INFLUENCE OP CHEISTIANITT UPON CIVILIZATION. 350
And it has been quite customary to look on them as rather indica-
tions of barbarism, or a low state of civilization. It would not be-
come me, on an occasion like this, to enter into any question con-
nected with the merits of these religious institutions in a religious
point of view. That is not appropriate for the plan or occasion, and
I will leave it aside. But I will view them in connection with the
times and the progress of society. I find in them one of the most
remarkable agencies which God employed for extending the bless-
ings of civilization, and giving form and permanence to these crude
materials for modern nations which were then strewn around.
How was this ? The Roman empire being in the state I have de-
scribed— overrun with northern barbarians, who brought with them
all their habits of plunder, dislike of labor, and unspeakable con-
tempt for the occupation of letters as one only fitted for the coward
— how were they brought into that condition in which all the min-
gled interests of -a large community could be so balanced and
arranged as to allow freedom to each, and equal rights to all. How
was this to be accomplished? How was it, in fact, done? I
answer, it was effected in a great measure by the institution of
monastic orders.
I find, in reading history, especially that of the Church, that these
institutions had amongst their objects the preservation of ancient
manuscripts which would otherwise have perished. Their origin
was in the desire of their founders to retire from the evils of the
world, to save theif own souls, and serve their God in solitude.
There, then, jou see the first organization of civilized life, in the
constitution of a religious community. The very word " commu-
nity" was unknown before, and had its origin in those institutions.
Admirable schools of wisdom and justice, and freedom too! — the
essence of whose constitution and government has been infused into
the best civil organizations of modern times ! (Loud applause.)
The time of the monks was divided in attention to rest, prayer,
study, and labor. And if in the sequel they became wealthy, and
seem to have occupied a larger space than they ought have occu-
pied, let not that, any more than their character and influence, be
misunderstood. In theii- origin they selected locations where land
was of no value, because inhabitants were wanting and the soil was
not prized. They ordinarily selected retired places — the wilderness,
far remote from the usual haunts of men — but they were industri-
ous ; their habits were religiously frugal ; their clothing was of the
coarsest texture ; they lived a perpetual life, never dying, but as a
body with its paiU.icles always supplied in proportion to the waste ;
having no helpless childhood, nor feeble youth, nor decrepid age in
their Institution ; they, by their own continual industry, and the
gradual increase through ages in the value of the lands on which
they had settled, became, without its being at the expense of any
human being on the earth, wealthy and influential. (Long continued
applause.) These untrodden, wild and barrcm mountains, which
they found forsaken and forbidding, tho'ir patient toil converted
360 AECHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE.
into smiling gardens, whicli thus became the first " model-farms "
to the inhabitants of the agricultural regions of Europe. The
monks were now the pioneers of successful agriculture.^ They
taught it ; they practiced it with their own hands ; it was, in part,
their occupation. And not in agriculture alone — which is, we may
remember, the first element of civilized social life—but in science
.and literature, they were the instructors of their fellow-men.
Whilst some of their number tilled the ground, others taught, and
others studied. And in their constitutions we find express pro-
visions made for the transcribing of the ancient documents which
had been preserved, and books of a peculiarly unpleasant kind were
reserved for copying in penitential times, such as Lent ; for as yet
the world had no printing-press. These were the men who pre-
served and handed down to future ages the hoarded treasures of the
past, which, but for their patient, denying toil, would have been
irrecoverably lost. Take the Benedictine order alone, which existed
for some fourteen hundred years, and you see that it has been em-
ployed, during the whole night of barbarism, in gathering up the
fragments of the ancient writers and the fathers. All, in fact, that
we know of Greece and Rome, and the perished empires of the past,
has been derived from these despised monks. They were the men
who built the bridge — the only bridge connecting ancient with
modern civilization. And whilst we, in our ingratitude, feasting on
the labors of their toilsome hours, call them "lazy monks," wo
ought to know that they were the literary carriers of all the knowl-
edge that has come down to us from the elder days of the world.
(Immense applause.)
But I perceive that I should waste the whole of the time appro-
priate for a lecture, if I were to follow out any single idea which
occurs to me on a subject like the present. I shall, therefore, be ob-
liged to hurry on, in order to give some hasty glances at a general
view of a topic which covers such a vast space of time and of locality.
Gradually from this period you find these nations, in their strug-
gle against the mild and gentle influence of Christianity, themselves
opposing or slowly yielding to it, following out in their social forms
the primitive instinct of the races from whom they were descended.
Thus you find in the first legislation that the life of an ancient sub-
ject of the empire was not worth so much as that of one of the
invaders ; and again, in that strange comJ)ounding for injuries in-
flicted, that the price of a first finger was nearly as much as that of
a linib, because they wanted it to pull the bow-string, and send the
arrow to the foeman's heart. It is only by thus examining the con-
dition of society, at that period, that you learn how near the state
of infancy it was, how feeble then the dawn of "the general mind.
Then, after the decline and fall of that empire, we enter on the
" middle," or, as they are sometimes called, the " dark ages ;" not so
much because exclusively dark in themselves as because we our-
selves are very much in the dark respecting them, and in the brevity
of human life do not deem the toil of research to be compensated
INFLTJENCIB OF CUKISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 361
by any advantageous return, K'ow these ages are, to a certain ex-
tent, of this description unquestionably ; but, in the mean time,
through these ages you observe the powerful worldngs out of that
great idea which God had made known through his Divine" Son,
viz., the worth of human nature. Then wag the time of the found-
ing of all these charitable 'institutions for the aid or relief of human-
ity. Then was the period of Christian heroism — of men and women
dedicating themselves to the suffering and the poor ; the poor who
were despised under ancient civilization, and the poor who are un-
happily yet despised. Then it was that charity made her dwelling
with men ; and recollect that charity is like a new sense, it is as if
God has given a new sense, but a divine one, to tlie human mind ;
charity, the whole of which is the gift of tlie Christian religion ;
that charity which consists in loving God, and men for God's sake;
because Christ the Redeemer loved man, and laid down his life for
for him 1 Then it was that men jDledged themselves by a solemn
vow ; so noble and disinterested was their heroism, that they crossed
the deep, and periled life and all they had, to save a human being
who, once baptized into Christianity, might still fall into apostacy
and be lost. Then was the period when those institutions of charity,
those hospitals for the relief — now of one, now of another form of
human suffering — were founded. So ample were the provisions
thus made, that I might ask you to set the imagination to work, and
then write down in a catalogue all the misfortunes and calamities of
a moral or physical description to vvhich man, as a man, can be sub-
ject, and present it to me, and I will show you an institution of
generous men, and generous women, taking leave of the pleasures
of the world, and, with delight, consecrating themselves to the
alleviation of each ! This is the nature and power of the feeling
which pervades them.
» We also find, at the same period, those crusades which have
occupied so much of the attention of the historian and the student
of human progress. By the superficial critics of modern times the
motives of the crusaders have been censured, and the influence
which they exercised on civilization denied altogether, or immensely
underrated. These writers exhibit to their readers only their views
of what they deem the absurdity of rousing whole nations into en-
thusiastic determination to rescue a far city of the earth from the
hands of the infidel. But such historians know little of what was
accomplished by those chivalrous crusaders. They cannst see that
by their successful invasion of the Mohammedan empire thej^ checked
the career of the followers of the false prophet, and prevented the
subjugation of the whole western portion of Europe to their do-
minion. I enter not now at all into a discussion of the morality or
the religious bearing of that chivalric enterprise, but I refer simply
to its efi'ects on man in his social character, and affirm, without hesi-
tation, that, in the order of human things, to these crusaders the
westei-n nations of Europe are indebted for the preservation of the
Christian fiith.
^62 AECHBisiiOP hughes' lectuee.
Then it was, too, that another order .of society which had sprung
up, a vestige of ancient slavery, was itself diminished. I allude to
serfage, which mingled in all that complicated feudal system, and
was but another, a milder form of the slavery of a past age. But
the serf who accompanied his lord in the crusades was, when he
returned, no longer a serf, but a free man. In relation to this whole
class, you see the mild and gentle influence of Chiistianity in the
amelioration of their condition. Under the ancient law of the em-
pire the master could not emancipate Jhis slave, except under the
greatest restrictions. The new legislation prepared the way for the
emancipation of the serf, and provided for it on a thousand occa-
sions, on which men ought to be grateful to God. Now a baron or
nobleman, on the birth of a son- — now a youth when he attained his
majority. Now, on the occurrence of any other prosperous or de-
sirable event, gratitude was to be displayed by raising the serf to
the privileges of freedom. And thus all over Europe yoii discover
at this period the growing influence of Christianity on human soci-
ety— a softening down and an amelioration, a shedding upon legis-
lation arid social existence all those benign influences of religion,
whose operation prepared the way for a higher state of civilization
than that which we now enjoy. Subsequently to this you perceive
the rapid progress of knowledge. You find the Universities of
Paris, Pavia, Oxford, and Cambridge, of anterior origin. And it is
remarkable that even during this period, from the first dawn of the
revival of letters in the beginning of the thirteenth century, how
rapid was the advance towards the full day of civilization. It is
during this century that we read of twelve thousand students at
Oxford alone at one time ; and at another time, of thirty thousand
students, when every monastery besides had its school, and was the
centre around which towns and villages and shires and counties
were formed. When all this was going on, then, had it not been,
for the shock of subsequent events, we can easily perceive that the
progress of civilization would have been far more advanced at pres-
ent than it was. (Great applause.)
We are in the habit also of supposing that what we term human
rights, and the particular limitations of rights and duties, were but
imperfectly understood at this time. That it was to a certain
extent is true. That there were abuses, persecution, and crimes of
every kind, just as now, only perhaps of a somewhat coarser form,
is not to be denied. But we are in the habit of supposing that men
at this time were entirely dependent, if nol; in temporal, at all events
in spiritual matters, on the clergy, and that what the latter ordered
the former were prepared to do at all hazards. No falser concep--
tiou could be formed than this. On the contrary, so far from being
in bondage to either spiritual or secular guides, it was then that, in
the name of future generations, they took that noble stand in favor
of human rights, because they were, as might well be said, the shield
of humanity exalted in the person of Chiest by union with the
Deity itself If you speak of the institutions of an Alfred — of the
INPLUENCB OF CHRISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 363
very forms of legislation — of deliberative assemblies — of the ele-
ments of jurisprudence — of the civil law — of what has been called
the common law — I can tell you that if you thread them all up to
their true source, you will find that it was in the sanctuary ; there
Avas the origin of all that is now most dearly cherished in our social
institutions. (Loud applause.)
Had the ancients anything of a representative form of govern-
ment ? 'No. Did they know or recognize anything of those three
divisions — legislature, judiciary, and executive? Had they any
knowledge of that phrase, whose origin we ourselves do not perhaps
always recollect, the " Commonalty," or Commons of England ?
No. They had no idea of a representative and deliberative assem-
bly. And where did the idea of the " three Estates" — of, the
" Estates general" — of the " Cortes" of Spain — for trodden down
Spain was once one of the first and freest nations of Europe — origi-
nate ? In the councils of the Church ! The bishops assembled in
council and representatives of other orders were there also. I defy
any historian to find any other origin for the representative form of
government. If, again, you turn your eyes to the scientific develop-
ments of the human mind, where had it its origin and where its
proudest triumphs ? Just go and measure if you can the dimensions
of those cathedrals and minsters which were upreared in those ages.
Trace the development of the mind and the nicety and exactitude of
the science by which the illuminated pages of manuscripts were
lighted up. Measure those mighty Monies suspended in the air, those
long and lofty arches pointed in the style called Gothic, but which
properly speaking is not Gothic but Christian, and you will see that
these men, in what we call the " dark ages," but what were in reality
the middle ages, the ages of transition, knew how to stretch with
precision the architect's line along the earth, and lay the foundations
of noble edifices and raise them up, and turn the stones into form and
suspend them in long drawn-archer over the " long-drawn aisle, and
fretted vault." I question much, strange as it may sound, whether
we have science enough to know how to take down these noble
structures — it is certain we have not enough to know how to recon-
struct them. (Loud applause).
But let us pass to those striking evidences of higher civilization
which are presented by the origin and progress of the fine arts, of
which indeed architecture, on which I have just touched, is one.
Engraving, painting, sculpture, all these things were necessarily
lost in the great moral catastrophe to which I have already alluded.
In my conception of civilization, I wish you to recollect it discovers
its growth and advancement not alone in those arts and that knowl-
edge which have their application merely to the animal comforts and
well-being of our race. Civilization should do something more than
provide a house to shelter our heads and clothing to shield our
bodies from the cold air. God has created us with rational minds,
and has alSo endowed us with affections which yearn for appropri.
ate rutriment. We have hearts to glow with ecstasy or throb with
364 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES LSCTUEE.
sympathizing sorrow ; we have imaginations to concei^'e and to
create; ^va have susceptiliilities keenly alive to every impression ;
and my idea of a high state of civilization is of that which, whilst it
ministered most to the comfort of the body, and imposed the least
restraint upon the individual, should at the same time allow, and
even encourage, the highest development of those faculties whidi
distinguish man above'the brute, and link his nature with divinity
itself. (Loud applause.) And in the ages of which I now speak, was
there not abundant evidence of the growth and supremacy of the
moral and intellectual faculties of man ? Besides the sublimity of
the architecture of the religious edifices to which I have alluded,
look at their ornamefits — the painted glass, an art now lost — the ex-
quisite carving in wood — the paintings themselves, developing a
new idea again which seemed to elevate man above the mere matter
of this perishing earth to a loftier and purer region, and repealing
the mysterious secret that there were new forms and all but a new
life dwelling in the light as it came in pencils from the sun ; and that
it was only necessary to fix a surface on which these forms could be
reflected, in order to create a whole \^'orld of imagery and thought.
Then again of music, to what is its cultivation to be traced ? To
the inborn desire to honor the Deity, who by becoming incarnate
has so elevated human nature. By the estimate in which these
things were held, matter was depressed in the scalfe of appreciation ;
gold was depressed ; money was depressed ; everything was de-
pressed and treated as the dross of the earth, when placed in the
balance opposite to man, because he had a soul stamped with the
image of his God, and redeemed by his Divine Son on the cross of
Calvary. (Loud applause.) It was this feeling which created the
forms which live on the breathing canvas ; it was this that led them
to the depths of the quarry, there to perceive the figure and after-
wards to labor in removing the surrounding rubbish until they gave
to the world such forms as the Moses of Michael Angelo, speaking
with every feature, and wanting only the human voice to transmit
the sound. (Great applause.) What was it that inspired these
men ? Religion. And, again, if you look at the walls which are
immortalized by their hands, you behold ideas embodied and pre-
sented to your bodily sense, of which you could otherwise form but
1 feeble conception. He read of the judgment ; he studied the
prophets and the apostles, and deeply imbued with awe and rever-
ence of the solemn mysteries and awful sublimities of the Christian
religion, gave visible and undying existence to the conceptions of
his mind. For recollect that Ashen you have the outward signs of
civilization, whether it be in architectural monuments, or with breath-
ing canvas, or in the ail-but speaking statue — recollect that those
were first created in the mind, and all the rest is but the carrying
out' of that IDEA into a form in which it will become objective to
the senses, and through them be conveyed to the mind. You be-
hold this in every direction ; you see the first idea of Christianity
contributing, ministering secretly, silently, withoul violcBCO, without
INFLUENCE OF CHEISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 305
overturning any established order, but always through the heart, to
exalt the worth of the human soul. Always to bring comfort to
some portion of suffering humanity.
And after this was another means and a most important one,
which I had almost overlooked — the spirit of missions, which was
the essence and the soul of that Christian religion. The command
of our Saviour was : " Go ye, teach all nations," and this word was
never silent, never inoperative, but as a principle of activity was
transmitted as one undying commission, whereby the purposes of
redemption were to be accomplished. This spirit of missions, hav-
ing Rome for its centre and source, became the medium of extend-
ing civilization throughout the world. The missionary going on his
errand of mercy brought with him the light and the knowledge of
his own land. Thus St. Augustine proceeds from Rome to England.
Thus the missionaries of England itself in later times, .and more
particularly of Ireland, became the apostles at once of Christianity,
and indirectly of civilization too, in France, Germany and the north-
ern states of Europe. But not only was the light of one nation com-
municated to another, but by the medium of missions it was more
generally diffused from province to province of the same land.
Without this the intellectual commerce of distant parts of the same
country could not have been carried on. And the consequence has
been, that not only by the progressive influence of Christianity, by
its missionaries, was felt in mellowing down the peculiar institutions
of the heterogeneous tribes settling in different portions of the same
country, into a certain uniformity both of feeling and of ideas,
which soon took the form of general legislation, but also between '
different nations through the medium of one tie, that of religion, a
kind of brotherhood was formed among the states themselves by
the action of religion in its , unity and its universality. Without
this, as far as we ,can judge, nations would have been isolated and
disjoined from each other.
It is almost impossible to appreciate at its just value the services
thus rendered to the temporal condition of man by the missionary
spirit of the Church. For we must recollect that in those times
there were no railroads to facilitate communication, nor highways,
nor post-offices, nor carriages, nor hotels. And even in regard to
these, I find that religion is the principle of their origin, if not of
their perfection. The idea which penetrated all Christian society in
those ages, inspired men with an impulse for every enterprise which
could confer a benefit on that humanity which had been so honored
in the mystery of man's redemption. In accomplishing these ■\\'orks
they considered themselves as laboring for Christ, when they labored
for their fellow-men. Thus we find them banding themselves to-
gether into religious confraternities for the purpose of improving
highways, building bridges across rivers otherwise impassable, and
planting monasteries and hospices in solitary places, where the
traveller, overtaken by night, or by sickness, or by the tempest,
might find the shelter of a Christian brother's roof. These things,
366 AECHBISHOP HtJGHEs' LECTUEE,
begun by the spirit of religion, were afterwards taken up and
continued by the secular policy of the States, but not until those
States had been themselves imbued with science and other aids
equally derived from religion, for accomplishing the task. The in-
tercourse among men by these means becameenlarged. The light
of one country or province was made to shed its beams on another.
Not only was this the case in Europe, but it extended itself to every
quarter of the globe. Whilst the secular adventurers in South
America sought for gold, they were accompanied by the mission-
aries of religion, who wished to impart the light of Christianity to
the nations of that hemisphere, and who were invariably the friends
and the protectors of the poor Indians. These men, actuated by their
love of God and of man, were ready to shed their blood for the
cause to which they devoted themselves with such holy zeal. Even
in our own day, whilst the English soldiery, in the spirit of conquest
or of ambition, are knocking at the outward portals of China, the
French missionary has been pursuing his labor of love in the heart
of that empire for more than two hundred years ; and this is not
for the advantages of home manufacture or of commerce, but to
carry the gospel of Christ to that people, and if necessary, as many
have done, to yield his neck to the axe of the executioner. (Great and
continued applause.) This zeal for the propagation of the kingdom of
Christ oftentimes exercised a poweful influence in the progress of navi-
gation. It often happened that when other motives failed, Christianity
led to the successful enterprise, and even under the circumstances ante-
cedent to the great discovery by Columbus of this new world, when all
other arguments in favor of the expedition had failed with Isabella her-
self, her confessor suggested that in the new countries souls might be
found who could be brought to the knowledge of Jesus Cheist,
and this argument decided the question. She saw with that intui-
tive vision so peculiar to the age, that when treasures and souls were
to be weighed on the balance against each other, that the former
were of no value. Her jewels were immediately pledged for the
expense of the expedition, and a new world was discovered. (Great
applause.) I have already trespassed so long on your patience, that
I must again apologize ; I hasten to a conclusion. There is no one
point in wliich we are more indebted to Christianity than in the
elevation of woman, that is to say, one-half of the human race, from
the degradation and oppression of which she is universally the victim
where our holy religion is unknown. This is her condition through-
out the whole earth, even at the present day, wherever Christianity
does not exist.
On this point all writers are agreed. But mark the contrast in
Christian lands. If you are travelling in a public conveyance, and
a female makes her appearance, her sex alone — unless there be some-
thing positively prejudicial to the individual known, secures for her
aniver?al attention, and she takes whatever seat she chooses. This
trivial occurrence shows remarkably the vast difference in the esti-
mation in which her sex is held in ci\ilized and uncivilized countries.
INFLUENCE OP CHEISTIANriT UPON CIVILIZATION. 3 6 '7
And if you examine more particularly into the causes of this, you
will find they are discoverable in the same Christian sentiment, and
evince its supremacy in a still more poetic and affecting manner than
we have yet seen exhibited. The ancient Christians, ^ho lived
immediately near the times of our Saviour, did not fail to observe
that in the fall of our race by primitive disobedience, woman was
the first to be seduced, and being seduced, became a seducer in her
turn ; and they conceived, looking at her condition over the earth,
that in consequence of this the weightier part of the malediction
rtisulting from that disobedience fell upon her, and that on this
account, by the permission of God, until her Restorer came, when,
through the woman there should be a reparation made, she should
be in a suffering condition. And then they coiTsidered that a glory
corresponding with this degradation resulted to her sex from the
circumstance of the virgin of Gallilee being selected to be the
mother of that Saviour in whom was united the human and the
divine nature. (Great applause.) The Blessed Virgin Mary, as the
type of regenerated woman, became the pride and glory of her sex
• — raised above all men and above all angels, and they conceived that
the nature of woman, as a special portion of humanity, was exalted
and ennobled, and in some measure rendered sacred in consequence
of her relation to the Saviour of mankind. This idea pervaded the
whole of that society. And you can trace it in all those orders
having religion for their instinct, and which went to vindicate and
protect that sex. ♦You can perceive it in a thousand relations in
■which it would not be possible for me to dwell.
So with regard to almost everything else. Whilst men were
thus struggling against barbarism and ignorance, and their progress
checked by all the accidents and circumstances of our nature, you
perceive this vital current of love coming from the Son of God and
pervading every heart, and making humanity as a kind of ideal ob-
ject of almost veneration. This was the source which made wealth
be looked upon as of comparatively little value, and man to be re-
garded as worthy of all that his brother could do or suffer for his
sake. But when civilization was thus advancing — whilst men were
making such rapid progress in letters, in eloquence, painting, sculp-
ture, music, and architecture, an event occurred on which, however,
I have no desire now to dwell. For the first time the great division
of the human mind on the subject of religion took place, and Chris-
tian unity was broken. We cannot but deplore that as a misfortune,
without at all entering into the merits of the question on one side
or the other. But the stream which had passed unbroken, and
■oivified all lands through which it passed, was now turned off into
narrow channels, and from thenceforth you see nothing of that great
united co-operation — that idea binding the hearts of millions — but
you see the human mind distracted, and what is worse, the human
heart divided. And instead of laboring altogether with unanimity
of thought and purpose for the general welfare of mankind, society
becomes cut up into sections and cliques, and any good efforts are
368 AECHBISHOP HUGHES LECTTTEE.
counteracted by the antagonism of another. If that cliange was
sincerely thought necessary by those who led in it in order to please
God, who will judge them? Not I. Nevertheless I do think it
is a point susceptible of the clearest proof that civilisation received
a shock, a check, and false direction there, from which it has not yet
recovered, and perhaps never will. This was the complaint of Eras-
mus ; beholding the evils flowing from it, he described it as' an
epoch of " polemical barbarism." He and many others even at that
time, could deplore the sudden check given to men's united intelligence,
wheti the discovery of printing, of gunpowder, of the perfect use
of the compass, and of a new world, and all the important elements
for promotmg civilization gave such promise and certainty of the
still greater advance of knowledge, refinement, and liberal studies.
You behold that from this time the features of civilization are not
identical. That warmth — that kind of poetry of feeling — that en-
thusiasm— that effective, united counsel, are all lost. Even liberty
itself — even the social rights of men, in almost every nation, retro-
graded. It may, perhaps, surprise some here when they are in-
formed that before that time Spain was a free country — not free as
we understand it — but comparatively free — that her king was not
absolute — that he could not grind his subjects at his will, but his
Cortes stood before him, and lest he should forget, made it a rule to
tell him " that each of them was as good as he was, and all of them
together much better." Before that time — even as far back as the
beginning of the thirteenth century, the great fountain spring of all
our social and political rights burst fortb into the Magna C'^arta;
for in all the quarrels of Popes and Bishops with the arbitrary
powers of Kings and Governments, you will always find the repre-
sentative of the Church standing by the side of Jiuman rights and
struggling for their extension. In that contest forMagna Charta,
the King, misrepresenting the state of the question, obtained the
excommunication of the Barons ; but how was this document re-
ceived in the metropolis of England ? Just as it would be at the
present day — as so much waste paper. The King could not find a
single Bishop who would publish it. He had to compel the monks
by sending his troops to perform that office. The e^•ent to which I
have alluded destroyed in that country the healthy tone of independ-
ence here manifested. Neither was it thus in England alone. On
the Continent you find that the despotism of nearly every govern-
ment either originated with, or was increased by, this event. The
reasons are perfectly obvious and natural. The different States soon
discovered that this new religious question was to be decided by
troops and battlefields ; and according to the issue the governments
fovored the old or the new system. But the spirit of the people
was broken by these divisions, and the opportunity was too favora-
ble for the spirit of despotism to let pass, without strengthening
itself through their disasters. And accordingly the whole tone of
government on the Continent became more stringent and absolute,
and in most of the Northern States there is less of the substance of
INFLUENCE OF CHEISTIANITT UPON CIVILIZATION. 369
human freedom at the present day, than there was when that event
occurred.
Civilization, however, is still going on, but the vital principle
which had borne it so long has been essentially impaired. This was
a religious principle, created by the idea of "Christianity, in which
the honor and the benefits of the Incarnation were received as em-
bracing the whole human race. The principle still abides in the
larger division of the Christian name, but in the other division
limited and impartial views of the Atonernent under the forms of
election received most favor. It is impossible, I think, not to trace
in the external developments of society, the effects of this change.
The impetus which society had received continued to impart a mo-
mentum, e\'en after the great motive power had ceased to operate,
and after others had been substituted. It is evident that in modern
ideas humanity is less prized and wealth more. The direction of
civilization, and I might almost say the soul that animates it, is ma-
terial. Interest, and that purely of an earthly kind, is the great
propeller of our age. As to results for bodily comforts it answers
as well as any other, but it has lost that high and holy feeling which
caused men in former times to expect the recompense of their self-
devotion in the approbation of God, and in the reward of another
life. The consequence is, that man as man has depreciated ; and
money has acquired an awful value. The proof of this is found in
everything we are acquainted with. In the struggles of individuals
and associations for wealth ; in the remarks of writers ; in every
public sign from which a judgment may be inferred, you perceive
how much more emphasis is laid on the mere material object — the
possession of a large fortime, or extensive lands, or great revenues,
than there is on the higher attributes of humanity, the noble intel-
lect of the generous heart. It is impossible not to perceive in mod-
ern society this melancholy and almost universal tendency. We see
little of that desire to ameliorate the condition of human nature.
Men are no longer impelled by that love, that affection, that ideal
and lofty estimate of humanity. The great and ennobling influence
of the mystery of Iledemption which has effected such wonders in
past ages, seems to have almost gone away from us, and we are re-
duced to a selfish struggle for the things of this life, in which each
human being seems to act for himself, and to be acted upon only by
motives of private and personal interest.
Were it permitted to present a type of our age it might be the
splendid edifice of a joint' stock or banking company in the public
square, and in -the back ground a simple structure for a Christian
church. The former building open six days of the week and
crowded by thousands of the votaries of fortune, the latter open
only on Sunday, and its interior divided into apartments according
to the wealth or pretentions of those who occupy them. Even in
this,' you witness the absence of that ancient picture of the Chris-
tian Church, in which men were taught practically as well as other-
wise, that in the sight of God they are all equal, and though the
24
370 AECHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE.
pointed arch and vaulted dome rose majestically above their heads,
barons, and nobles, and princes, and common people, all occupied
the same level without any division to mark their distinctions, be-
cause the Incarnation and the Kedemption were for the benefit, not
of classes, but of the whole human race.
It ought to be remarked that the true basis of civilization must be
found in the enlightenment of the human mind, and the moral
soundness of the human heart. This is the medium through which
it must proceed to its development in the external order of things.
This was necessary to create civilization ; it will be indispensable to
sustain it. Nothing can be more manifest than that the well being of
society rests upon a moral foundation. And if that foundation
should become weak or unhealthy, or if it should in itself not be
sustained by the supporting power of religion, then civilization must
be impaired in its highest attributes.
It certainly will not be for want of science or skill, or external
means or appliances, if civilization should at any future time retro-
grade in this country, so peculiarly and advantageously distinguished
from all others. In this country we have not to contend with that
tenacity with which the nations of the old world clung to ancient
customs and usages. "We have seen in other countries men strug-
gling for centuries to effect a change in some law, on account of the
old hereditary prejudices in favor of it. So that it is easily seen
that in this country a remarkable and favorable opportunity of mak-
ing great advances in civilization, is afforded in its freedom from
the influence of such prejudices. Such a state of things, every one
must see, is admirably calculated to aid the development of human
powers, and the extension of human rights. It presents a spectacle
— a phenomenon which the ancient world would have believed
utterly impossible. We find one of their philosophers speaking of
a condition of society in which religious classes should bo repre-
sented, and he calls it a beautiful chimera. They never could have
imagined that a nation only half a century in existence, and with
sixteen millions of people, should present itself to the world in the
two-fold character of governing and governed — every man having
so far a portion of what constitutes a kingly power, and at the
same time every man using it under the guidance of his intellect,
and in such a manner as shows he values and does not abuse his
prerogative. (Great applause.) This is a spectacle novel in the
history of nations, and the prayer of every man who loves human
nature and respects and values human rights, will be, that this shall
go down to posterity undisturbed, but with increased benefits to
mankind and growing prosperity until the latest times. (Long con-
tinued applause.)
LECTUEE ON SOCIAL SERVITUDE. 3^1
THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON
SOCIAL SERVITUDE:
A LECTURE, DELIVERED IN THE TABERN^ACLE, NEW YORK, MARCH
29, 1843, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HALF-ORPHAN ASYLUM
ATTACHED TO ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH.
SociETT, for the purposes of this Lecture, may be divided into
three classes. The first is composed of the few, who, possessing
wealth, enjoy the privileges of social independence, by which they
can command the services and labor of others, without having either
to obey or labor themselves. The next is of those who compose the
great mass of society, especially in our own country, who, though
they live by the productions of their labor, still are not dependebt
on the will of given employers, but whose position enables them to
regulate their hours of toil and of rest, according to the dictates of
their own judgment and discretion. The tliird class consists of
those who have to depend exclusively for their means of subsistence
on labor ; — and who are dependent for the privilege of labor, which
to them is almost of life, on the intei-ests and caprice of employers.
The first and the last of these classes have always existed, from
the earliest annals of the human race. The middle class is of com-
paratively modern origin, having sprung up, imperceptibly, during
the transition of society from the feudal syetem to the more attrac-
tive and liberal condition, as regards laws and general civilization,
under which modern society lives. This middle class would be,
perhaps, the happiest of all; but time has developed the alarm-
ing fact, that, in the most recent stages of human progress, in the
countries of Europe, this class, taken in the aggregate, is undergoing
a gradual diminution, both of numbers and of resources. The units,
indeed, are observed to succeed, by successful industry and fortunate
enterprise, in scaling the social heights, and rallying under the
gorgeous banner of the first ; wlfiilst the tens, and the hundreds, are
reluctantly borne downward, on the social scale, till, at last, they are
ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
seen, in the thickeiniig ranks and under tlie tattered standard of the
third. If we are to place any confidence in the statistics of France,
and more especially of England, this result is becoming every day
more and more evident, since the peace of 1815. _ •
These two nations, coming down to us by unbroken history, from
remote antiquity, furnish the richest field for inquiry and investiga-
tion, to those who would speculate in the philosophy of human
society. But how different the circumstances of both countries,
from those that bless and distinguish our own ; which, though check-
ed from time to time, still is, as regards the social position of its
inhabitants, the most prosperous and happy land on the surface of
the globe. Singular in the manner in which it was peopled by a
race ah-eady civilized, unparalleled in the variety and salubrity of
its climate, unsurpassed in the richness and fecundity of its soil,
unequaled in the extent of its territory, with the rich and regular
harvest waving above, and immense unexplored treasures of minerals
sleeping beneath the surface of its soil ; — with a population among
whom there are no privileged classes, among whom education and
enhghtened enterprise are almost universal; who are the guardians
of their own rights, the interpreters of their own wants ; — among
whom in fine the people are the government, and that government
free ; the American citizen who is a part and a proprietor in all this
may witness the calamities of older nations, and feel no other
emotion except that honorable sentiment of our nature which
prompts us to sympathize in the sufferings of any portion of our
race. [Applause.]
Still, for these very reasons, it is evident that this is not the coun-
try from which the Philosophy of History may derive her purest
les'sons of wisdom, on the subject of human society. She may have
oisened her book of memoranda, and recorded a few chapters — but
still it must be evident that in such a country the fruits of historical
experience, though luxuriant and healthy, are, as yet, too green ; —
and that to older nations, in which that fruit has been matui-ed and
ripened by the sunshine and the showers of many centuries, she
must look for whatever she would set down as established conclu-
sions,— indisputable maxims.
The increase of operatives, or the diminution of labor, or both to-
gether, has become in the two countries I have mentioned, but
particularly in Great Britain, a question of startling importance to
statesmen,^ and 'of singular embarrassment and perplexity to that
class of philosophers who are knowni as political economists. Various
and contradictory have been their speculations, but both have agreed
that if there be danger to the ship of State, it must be from the broken
rocks and sunken shoals of social servitude, which have been cast
or drifted with fearful accumulation in her course. Even now she
is seen straining in the effort to escape ; and whilst the obstinacy of
her officers will not allow theni eith^- to shift the ballast or take in
sail, the extraordinary leeway whicFshe makes, reveals to the hand
of her most skillful and experienced Pilot, almost for the first time,
LECTURE ON SOCIAL SEETITUDE. 373
■that she ceases to obey her rudder. Will she be shipwreolted, that
'gallant old bark, that has breasted the billows, and braved the
storms of a thousand years ? Time alone can determine and solve
the problem.
The disciples and even masters of political economy have at-
tempted it ; but facts and results are every day developing them-
selves, which confound their theories and speculation. It is not so
clear that the rich are beeoming richer, but it is certain that the
poor are every day becoming more poor and more numerous.
It is remarked that this class of writers have, genei'ally, considered
man in his social relation, and indeed society itself, as a being invest-
ed with a single attribute, viz., the power of " producing and of
consuming ; " that is, as an animal with whose existence in society,
one or other of those results is inseparably connected. They have
hardly thought it worth while to take his intellect into account ;
whilst they have uniformly overlooked his affections, feelings, his
moral and religious nature ; and so long as they consider him abstract-
edly separated from these, they discuss something less than half the
subject on which they profess to write.
"Producer," "consumer," "production," "consumption," — it is
astonishing to consider what books, what statistics, what calcula-
tions, what prodigious mental labor, have been expended on these
four words. Yet it does not so far appear that either the writers or
the readers of these books, or the nations for whom they were
written, have been able to extract from their pages the secret where-
by the increase of poverty might be arrested, or the millions rescued
from the horrors of want and destitution, with which the whole
department of social servitude is threatened and of which many
from its ranks have already fallen victims. But whatever may be
the character of their reasoning, too much importance cannot be
attached to the facts on which it was founded. And the conclusions
to which one school of these writers has come, give us a fearful idea
of these facts. One of these conclusions is, that in the absence of
war and other wholesale messengers of death, the productions of the
earth would, in a short time, be insuiBcient for the consumption of
its inhabitants ; and that, therefore, it would be a measure of political
wisdom to prevent the increase of the population, and thus pros-
pectively diminish the number of the poor — without the crime of
killing off those who are in actual existence.
Whole volumes could not give us so clear an idea of the extent
of calamity with which the condition of social servitude is threaten-
ed, as the simple fact that the author of this view is a clergyman,
.that the doctrine which it maintains should be popular in a nation
professing the Christian religion. Deep and festering must be the
disease in the social body, which could authorize the proposalof
such a remedy, not even to heal, but to prevent its sjrreading
farther.
Alas ! for the condition of social servitude, and alas ! for the
poor so nearly related to it, if a better book had not been written
3V4 AECHBISriOP HUGHES. )
than ever proceeded from the pen of political economy. I turn
away from its cold pages, and look for a better^ economy in the
book of God ; but the book of man also, as especially of the poor.
In it I read " the poor you have always with you, and when you
will you can do good unto them. Do unto others, as you would
that they should do unto you — feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
give drink to the thirsty, and as often as you do it to the least of
my brethren, you do it unto me." Here is the source from which
every amelioration, in the condition of social servitude, has flowed ;
and if the experience of mankind, from the origin of history, can
authorize any conclusion, it will be that is it vain to expect it from
any other.
Social servitude, in one form or another, has existed from the
earliest formation of society. But it would be a gross mistake to
suppose that society always was what it is at present — and yet this
is, a mistake which is by no means rare, especially among superficial
minds. They wonder why things should have ever been different
fi-om what they are at present — forgetting or rather not comprehend-
ing that the social relations by virtue of new discoveries, new im-
provements, new laws, and consequently new rights, and new duties,
are changing every day — even in the time that now is. But at
whatever period you examine it, under whatever phase it presents
itself, you will always and universally find that servitude has been
blended into the very being and existence of society. If, indeed,
we were engaged in the analysis of society itself, we should come
to the conclusion that in the nature of things, it could not be other-
wise. The first form of society, as it is still its greatest element of
supply, was domestic ; families existed, before nations were formed. '
Now the head of the family was the protector of his household ;
and the individual who found himself without protection, would
attach himself to some other faTnily, for the purpose of securing the
means of life, the first want of his nature, and the protection of
that life which was no where else afforded. Hence we know that
the Patriarchs had slaves, and this was the earliest form of that
social servitude which has come down to the present day. So, also,
the Jewish people had slaves. But it would be erroneous to sup-
pose, that Sliive, then, meant precisely what it means now ; or that
the condition of slaves was the same among the Jews that it was
among pag.an nations. Not only did the spirit of their religion
inculcate feelings of true humanity, but the laws secured to the
slaves certain privileges unknown to other nations ; such as repose
on th e seventh day, restoration to freedom in the seventh year, or
at least in the year of .lubilee.
To these causes, which existed also among pagan nations, was
added others, namely, the rights of conquest. Before Christianity,
and even now, wherever Christianity does not exist, the recognized
law of nations allowed the conqueror to take the life of his prisoners
of war. If he spared their lives, and deprived them of their liberty,
it -nas considered as an act of humanity ratter than of cruelty.
LECTURE OK SOCIAL SERVITUDE. 375
Hence slavery was found extensively established among the Assy-
rians, the first warriors of the primitive times. In Egypt also it
existed ; but it is from Greece and Rome that vsre can gather an idea
of the treatment of slaves, and the notions that were entertained
respecting them, and it will be necessary to have some conception
of both, in order to appreciate the benefits rendered to this unhappy
class by the Christian religion.
The Spartans stand before our imagination as a brave, frugal,
abstemious people ; especially jealous to exclude the enervating in-
fluences of artificial lil'e. We should have expected some traits of
humanity from such a people, in keeping with that courage of which
they furnished such splendid examples, and that simplicity of social
manners which they affected. And yet in the treatment of their
slaves they were systematically ferocious. Not only were the slaves
punished individually when they committed crimes, but at stated
intervals they were all scourged by public authority, not for crimes,
but in order, as the law expressed it, to keep them in mind of their
condition. Not only were they made drunk in presence of the
national youth, to excite a horror of intemperance, but, as an exer-
cise and preparation for war, they were hunted by that same youth,
on the plains of Laconia, as the Indian hunts the buffalo on the Wes-
tern prairies, or the Roman used to pursue the wild boar on the
sides of the Appenines.
The Athenians were not so cruel to their slaves. But the number
of these, compared with the free population, is almost incredible.
Atheneus tells us, that for twenty or twenty-one thousand free citi-
zens, the city of Pericles contained four hundred thousand slaves.
It is to be remembered that these were of the same race and the
same color as their masters, the only difference was, that Greeks
could not reduce Greeks to bondage, even by the chances of war,
but all who lived out of Greece were for them barbai'ians, and as it
was only justice when made prisoners to take their life, so it was
considered mercy to let them live on condition of perpetual servitude.
But were there not wise men, philosophers, in that classic land
of pagan civilization-? How did these things strike their minds?
Just as they did the minds of all other pagan nations. With
all their powers of reason and philosophy, they looked upon
slavery as an ordinance and condition established by Nature her-
self. Plato, in his treatise on laws, gives out the prevailing opinions
among his countrymen on this subject ; and from these Athenius
draws the fjeneral conclusion, that there is nothing good in the soul
of a slave, and that a wise man ought not in any case to trust him.
In support of this view are two verses of Homer, in which the poet
Rays, that Jupiter took away one-half their intelligence from those
whom he destines to slavery. Aristotle maintains, as a principle
not to be disputed, that slavery is a part of the order established by
Nature. Among the warlike and cruel Romans the same ideas pre-
vail. The Jndians of the East had a far more rational theory for
the explanation of slavery. They believed in the transmigration of
s'ze
ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
souls and regarded slavery in our life, as a punishment inflicted for
the crimes committed in some previous state. If the doctrine had
been true, the explanation would have been natural and just. The
German nations entertained views similar to those of the Greeks
and Romans regarding slavery, as a natural condition, and slaves as
being, if not of a different, at least of inferior nature — and to this
day the proper conceptions prevalent among them derives nobility
less from outward circumstances than from the current of the
blood, because duriijg their paganism, it was their belief that the
blood was the principal seat of the soul.
Such were the ideas that prevailed among the best lights of an-
cient paganism. And if these constitute the light, what must be
the darkness. With such ideas, without any knowledge of the true
God — or the true end of man's creation — with, slavery as universal
as the human race — with an unlimited power even over life recog-
nized in the master — with scarcely a check or an inducement for the
restraint of human passions — with a set of pretended immortal gods,
whose very example was an encouragement to licentiousness and
crime — when we take all these things into account, the soul shrinks
back upon herself overwhelmed and affrighted at the contemplation
of the multitudinous evils, physical and moral, which are interwoven
with the condition of ancient slavery.
Such was the state of the human race when the pivine Author
of our religion came to establish, even in the midst of its corrup-
tions, a kingdom which is not of this world. He recognized the
diversity of conditions in societj' — it was at once a consequence and
an evidence of the fall of the human race, by primitive transgression
and the carnal corruption of its way. But he revived the knowledge
of tlie True Master of all, whom the nations had forgotten, and pro-
claimed that in His sight, all men are equal. In his doctrine there
was nothing of anarchy, nothing of violence, nothing of coercion.
He, himself, and after him his apostles, submitted to the injustice
and oppression of earthly oppressors and earthly rulers, and thus,
whilst they remonstrated against the injustice, they respected, even
in its perversion, the principle of authority which sanctioned it. He
established the true relations between God and man. He instructed
his disciples in their duty, he promised them the aid of his grace to
perform it. He planted in their breast the celestial virtue of charity,
taught them the love of God, and commanded them to love one
another.
Here is the germ of e\ery social amelioration which has accom-
panied or followed the march of Christianity throughout the world.
If it be asked why these ameliorations, especially as regards the
condition of social servitude, were so slow, so gradual, so almost
imperceptible, in their development, the answer is obvious. It is
because He left man's free-will undestroyed, unimpaired. He pro-
posed the good. He promised his assistance to all men to accomplisli
it ; but, at the same time, He did not employ his Almighty power
to force or compel them. So that, in fact, they were still competent
LECTURE ON SOCIAL SEEVlTtJDB. 37^
to reject the good, and pursue the evil ; but then, all this, again, at
the awful responsibility of a future judgment before an infallible
tribunal. This also is a key to the discrimination and understanding
of Church history — the dividing line between the virtues and the
vices which it records. Surely both did not proceed from the same
source. All that is good is due to Christianity^ — all that is evil is to
be ascribed to the perverse exercise of man's free will, in despite,
and in contempt, of what Christianity teaches. This is an impor-
tant distinction which is never to be lost sight of. In fact, the prin-
ciples of Christianity had reference to the spiritual world, but
through it, it would be imjjossible that their development should
not exercise a salutary influence on that which is external or ma-
terial. Thus St. Paul says : — " Let every one abide in the calling
in which he was called. Wast thou called, being a bondman?
Care not for it — but if thou mayest be free, use it rather." And,
again, in reference to those baptized into the new Society, he says —
"There is neither Jew, nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female ; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The same apostle after having converted Onesimus, a fugitive slave
of his disciple Philemon, sends him back with a letter, ill which we
see the true spirit and teildenoy of the Christian religion. In that
epistle he calls the slave his " spiritual son " — and recommends him
to his master no longer as a servant, but " as a most dear brother."
Of whom he says, " I would have retained him, but without thy
consent I would do nothing ; that thy good deed might not be as it
were of necessity, but voluntary.''''
This m.anifestation of t^e spirit of Christ, seems to have furnished
the rule and the model of the Church's action on the condition of
social servitude. She exalted the action and the feelings of the ser-
vant, she brought down the pride and rebuked the cruelty of his
temporal lord, she instilled heavenly charity into the bosoms of both,
she taught them to love one another ; this was the first stage — and
then through the converted heart of the master, she trusted and
hoped for the liberation of the slave, that the good deed of the
former might not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary. Nor
was she disappointed in her charitable expectations. The supposi-
tion that all should have been emancipated, simultaneously with the
progress of Christianity, would be an absurd supposition, when it
is remembered that in those ages perhaps nine-tenths of the human
race were in the condition of slaves. But the thing was in itself
utterly impossible.
Still we see, and your feelings will be relieved by observing, even
in a few instances, where multitudes might be mentioned, the work-
ing of the Christian principle. The first known instance among the
great of a real enfranchisement of slaves was by Hermas, Prefect of
licnne, who was converted to Christianity by Pope Alexander, under
Trajan, whilst the Emperor was absent in a campaign against the
Persians. This great man, with his wife and sister, his sons, and
1,250 slaves, with their wives and children, went over to Christian-
'il8 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
ity together ; -and on Easter day, when they were baptized, he gave
them all civil freedom, and as they had neither property nor trades,
he gave them means of support until they should be able to gain
their own livelihood. Another remarkable instance occurs under
the Emperor Dioclesian. St. Sebastian was a Centurion of Rome, a
Christian, and the same whose martyrdom, having been tied to a
tree and shot to death with arrows, has furnished such a universal
subject to painters. He was the instrument of God in the conver-
sion of Chromatins, who on the day of his baptism liberated 1,400
slaves of both sexes, saying, that they who began to have God for
their father, should cease to be the slaves of a man ; and like Her-
mas he provided them with all necessaries for their new condition.
Even during the persecutions under the Pagan Emperors, we
learn from the writings of St. Jerome that multitudes of slaves were
receiving their freedom from rich families converted to the Chris-
tian faith. St. Milanse, with the consent of her husband, Pinius,
who was yet a pagan, liberated 8,000 of her slaves, and others who
would not accept freedom she presented to her brother-in-law, Sc-
verus. Many other instances might be presented, but these are
sufficient to demonstrate the early and practical working of Charity
in the bosom of the Christian Church. Celsus, representing the
feeling of old Roman Paganism, made it a reproach that the Church
instructed slaves, and received them into her communion. And in
reply, Origon, writing in the third century, says, " we confess we
wish to instruct all men ; and though Celsus may not desire it we
wish to show servants how, by acquiring a freed mind, they may be
ennobled by the Word." At a later period, Lactantius, too, an-
swering similar objections, tinfolds the spirit which her founder
breathed into his Church. "With God," says he, "no one is a
slave, no one a master ; for since he is the same father to all, we are
lall his children, and,all brethren."
But after St. Paul there is none who rendered more essential ser-
,vioe in rescuing the victims of social servitude than the eloquent
■and saintly Chrysostom. And we need not be surprised that the
intrepid Bishop should have become a subject of persecution, when
he made such sentences as these ring in the very ears of ftie pride,
'the pomp and voluptuousness of the eastern Capital: — "You say,
'■ my father is a Consul' — how does that aifect me? you have ances-
'tors, no doubt, since you come after them; but I may call a slave a
1 nobleman and a nobleman a slave, when I am informed of their
moral character. Ifow many lords lie drunken on their couch,
• whilst slaves stand by fasting ? Which shall I call the not free—
the Pasters or the Drunkards ? " Among the Latin Fathers, St.
.Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Peter, and St. Chrysologus were equally
zealous in their efforts to ameliorate the condition of social servi-
tude preparatory to final and universal emancipation. Nothing
■ could mark more strongly the progress that Christianity had al-
iTeady made than the fact that Ambrose, who preached the equality
• of slaves with their masters, did not hesitate on the other hand to
LECTURE ON SOCIAL SEBVlTtJDB. 3Y9
require that the Emperor, whom the pagans a short time before
were accustomed to worship ^ a deity, should acknowledge, his
equality with the humblest member of the Church, by taking his
place on the porch of the temple, and thus among the public peni-
tents, making reparation for his public scandal.
Thus by the idea of equality and the spirit of Christian charity
infused into the whole body of Christians— by the mitigation of se-
vere laws — by the multiplying of legal facilities for the process of
emancipation — by the ever-living and active zeal of the clergy — ply-
ing the powers of their influence individually within their small but
numerous circles over the empire, — ancient slavery, so ingrained in
the very essence of pagan society, was almost entirely abolished ;
w^en the progress of amelioration was suddenly arrested by the ir-
ruption of pagan barbarians from the north and east of Europe —
whose coming \^as as when the sliding avalanche overlays the bloom-
ing and peaceful valley at its base — or as the deluge when the cata-
racts of heaven were opened and the fountains of the great deep
broken up.. They felt that they were executing a mission, but its
nature and purposes were mysterious to themselves. They were
merely«conscious of a two-fold instinct, the plunder of what they
might carry away and the destruction of what they should be obliged
to leave behind. Having gratified their impulses they were gone,
and their career was to be traced only by the universal lAiin which
they left to perpetuate the memory of their visit. Again and again
they return and disappear in like manner, before they finally deter-
mine to take possession of the best parts of the Empire and its in-
habitants, now prostrate at their feet. They despised labor, and
they regarded all that appertained to refinement, science, literature,
the arts, not merely with sovereign contempt, but with positive ha-
tred. But a good sword, a brave heart, and a strong right arm —
these are what they prized and worshipped almost to idolatry. The
law of the sword comes in, and, henceforward, woe to the weak in
their struggles against the strong !
From this period Roman civilization may be considered as at an
end. Society passes through its period of transition and begins, to
present itself under an entirely new phase. Slavery in its ancient
form is done away, but social servitude is still continued. The con-
querors own the soil from which the inhabitants must obtain their
living. The former want retainers whom they can summon at the
trumpet's warning to follow and fight for them in their personal
quarrels with other chieftains, or it may be with royalty itself.
Hence, protection and support were deemed by the vanquished as
an equivalent for labor, military service, and loss of freedom. Hence,
vassalage, serfage, fealty, and the other terms of feudalism, which
have become obsolete under the present form of civilization. It
was during these times of civil anarchy and disorder that the weak,
particularly among the princes and nobles, who had right on their
side, without might to support it, threw themselvfss on the protec-
tion of the Church, and particularly of her chief bishop, the only
380 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
source from which a peaceful decision could be expejted. Hence,
the authority used by the Popes was not a usurpation on their
part, so much as it was a thing forced on them by the chiefs of na.
tions appealing to their influence in hope of that justice which could
be realized frqju no other quarter. It was an anomaly growingout
of the social disorganization of the time, and in the nature of things
must pass away, as in fact it did, when the causes which created it
ceased to exist. But, at all events, it is now admitted among learned
men of every creed, that, with scarcely an exception, the authority
of the Church was always on the side of the weak against the strong,
on the side of the people against their oppressors — the invaders of
whatever rights they had. This was the spirit of the clergy, from
the Pope down to the Acolyte, in their relations with the variojis
classes of the state, from the peasant up to the monarch on his
throne. In fact, if there were not other proof, the very influence
which they wielded would be sufficient ; because it was founded on
the confidence of the people, and that confidence never could have
been acquired or retained if tliey had not, in the main, proved them-
selves worthy of it. How did they prove this towards the serfs, or
vassals, the representatives of social servitude in the middle ages?
Oh! it is touching to see with what charity,' what zeal, what pru-
dence and perseverance they distilled the gentle influence of the
Christian spirit into the breasts of their masters, until the frozen
hearts of the north melted into humanity and pity towards their
unhappy dependants. Among their most distinguished advocates
and deliverers, dating from the seventh century, may be enumerated
the saintly Bathilde, wife of Clovis II., Charles the Bald, Louis
le Gros, Louis VIII., the good Queen Blanche, and her son St.
Louis, and Louis X. Now all these persons were acting under the
spirit inculcated by the Church. Servitude, says Ducange, began
to disappear insensibly; moved by piety and mercy, or receiving a
pecuniary compensation, the seigneurs gave full liberty to their
serfs, but they requested that the right of freedom should be con-
ferred in the Church and by the Bishop — -as if, says he, they wished
to give the honor to religion which had inspired the act.
All the preaching of the clergy tended to inspire this pity and
mercy towards" the serfs of which this writer speaks. All believed
in the importance of good works, to salvation ; and at the head of
all good works, during those ages, stands meect towards prisoners
and slaves. Hence, it is impossible to tell how large a share in
their gradual emancipation is to be ascribed to the dogmas of the
Church ; but it is not too much to assert that among those who
regard the doctrine of purgatory as a superstition, there are many
whose ancestors owed their elevation, from slavery to freedom, to that
identical doctrine ; for nothing was more common than to give serfs
for the consolation of a soul departed, or as presented to the Blessed
Virgin, or St. Peter — which always meant giving them their liberty,
investing them with the rights of freedom. The provision of the
Canon Taw which forbade the alienation of church property, was
le(;tuee on sojial servitude. 381
founded on the idea that the actual incumbents for the time being,
had only a life interest in the use of it. One-third of its income was for
the support of the poor, one-third for the repair of the churches, and
the remaining third for their personal maintenance, with the under-
standing that even the surplus of this, if any, belonged to the poor.
This regulation was one of the causes of their wealth, in the pro-
gress of time. But the same authority which forbade the alienation
of cliurch property, made one glorious exception — and the law did
not apply if the money resulting from such alienation was for the
purpose of ransoming slaves.
It was in this spirit that St. Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse,
actually sold the sacred vessels of his church to apply the money
to the jjurchase of their freedom ; St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola,
went so far when pecuniary resources failed, as to Ijecome voluntarily
a slave himself as the means of relieving others ; in which he was
successful. Individual instances of this kind were common over the
whole length and breadth of Christendom. Who can estimate the
infliience of such distinguished examples, on governments and
legislation, on the inferior clergy who were equally devoted in their
sphere, on the feudal lords themselves, on the serfs, on the whole
mass of society !
It was, no doubt, exairiples like these, which, acting on the charities
of the Christian religion on their own hearts, prompted so many tp
unite together in the diiferent religious orders of mercy, having for
their special object the redemption of slaves, the instruction, protec-
tion and consolation of the poor. But there is yet more. What
would be, in the very nature of things, the greatest obstacle in the
minds of the masters, to the voluntary enfranchisement of their
slaves ? Assuredly, the loss of the profits arising from their labor.
If then you could diminish those labors, you would of course dimin-
ish his profits, and with them his interest in perpetuating the bondage.
Now this is precisely what the Church did — though not altogether
for this purpose. She multiplied religious holidays. This took from
the master the profits of labor on those days, and imposed on him
the burthen of support. Who is there that has not ridiculed the
many holidays recognized in the Church, and yet how few have ever
suspected the motive of mercy towards the slaves, to which in part
they owed their origin.
Thus by a corabinatian of influences, all of them taking their
source in the charity of the Christian religion, the way was prepared
and the work gradually accomplishe4 ; so that at the beginning of
the sixteenth century, there was hardly a vestige of slavery on the map
of Europe, except in Poland, which had been the last nation convert-
ed from Paganism, and in llussia which had been already separated
from the unity of the Church, and in which it is not a little remarkable,
that after her separation, not a single step has ever been made to-
wards the emancipation of her serfs. But everywhere else, the
whole class of serfs had been transmuted into the first elements of
what has since constituted the middle classes, tenants or proprietors
362 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
of small portions of the land. Thus was slavery driven out of
Europe by the power of Christian faith and of Christian feeling
alone, working in the hearts of men. Its operation proceeded
slowly, but with the certainty of ultimately accomplishing its object,
and without producing any social or civil convulsion.
I have not spoken of particular nations, as my object has been to
give a general outline — as the time would not suffice for entering
into detail. JSTeither was the action of the clergy, generally, of an
authoritative or national form. But there is one remarkable instance
of this kind on record, and a large portion of this audience would
hardly pardon me if I passed it over in silence. It is taken from the
celebrated collection of the Councils, by L'Abbe. In the nation to
which I refer, slavery never existed among the native population,
for it never had been conquered. But it had become a market for
the sale of slaves brought from other lands, until that unhappy
statute, prompted by the same religious feelings which operated
elsewhere, its bishops, assembled in national council, proclaimed the
universal and simultaneous emancipation of all the slaves in the land.
This council was held about the year 1050, in the city of Waterford,
in Ireland. May we not hope that the people of that lovely but
unfortunate land, will soon be able to do for themselves what they
did for their foreign slaves nearly 800 years ago ? But at the begin
ing of the sixteenth century almost the last vestige of the system had
already disappeared throughout Europe generally.. The period of
, the transition of society from the forms of the middle ages, into
those of modern civilization, had begun at least a century before.
In tlie interval, the art of printing had been invented, and Columbus
discovered a new world, in the midst of what had hitherto been
supposed a boundless and unbroken ocean. With such accessions to
the means of human improvement, with so many obstacles to it
already remo\ed, with the resurrection of literature and the arts,
which had already taken place, with the knowledge of gunpowder,
the nse of the compass, and the first practical ideas of general
manufacture awakened and in action, however feeble, with the
avenues of commerce opened, the rights and laws of nations
established on a Chnstian basis, these nations themselves having
their separate interests, but held together by religious bonds which
constitute them but as different members of the same Christian
family — all these circumstances would seem to have opened a vista
of unexampled impro\'ement, progression and happiness for the
human race. But soon after this period, religious diffei'ences broke
out, and a large portion of the Church was rent from the imity of the
whole, and broken into fragments. The charities of religion which
iiad accomplished so much, and under such disadvantages, during
the middle ages, >\ere now unhapj>ily chilled and withered away
under the acrimonious conflict of ideas, and language, and even
armies, of which this event was the occasion, if not the cause. I
enter not into the theological merits of the dispute, on one side or
LECTUKE OX SOCIAL SEKVITUDK. 38-%
the other ; but many even of those who justify it on theological
grounds admit or rather contend that it would have been well for
society, and especially for the condition of social servitude and
the poor generally, if it had never occurred. Let us take England as
an example.
It cannot be denied that the accumtilation of wealth in that coun-
try during the three centuries that have since elapsed, is without a
parallel in the history of the world. You see on every side the most
cultivated scenery crowded with gorgeous seats and fairy palaces.
On every side are profusely collected all that can gratify the senses,
charm the taste, or fill the cup of human bliss, so far as happiness
can depend on outward circumstances. This would all be well if
there were no- poor also, or if God had created this earth for the
rich alone. But, without entering into details, it has been establish-
ed by innumerable statistics that a large number of deaths occuring
among the poor, so immediately connected with the classes of social
servitude, are to be ascribed to slow starvation ; that is, to such a
deterioration or diminution of the necessaries of life, as brought on
or aggravated the diseases by which it terminates. This is a sad
reverse to the picture of the nation's prosperity — and as I have
already trespassed so long on your indulgence, I must be brief in
assigning what occurs to me-as the cause. This I shall derive rather
from the history of the past than from the revulsions and commer-
cial fluctuations of the present, against the occurrence of which, as
an occasion of crushing any portion of its members, society, if if
deserve the name, ought to be always provided by foresight and
precaution. During the old system, religious festivals, on which labor
was suspended, were very numerous — and considering what had
been the condition of social servitude, the provision was at least a
humane one. There was a time when England was not the only
manufacturing nation of Europe ; Spain, Italy, Belgium, and France,
had already started with her in the competition — -and France was
likely to have proved her rival had it not been for the revoca-
tion of the edict of ISTantz. But England crushed them all. Of
course, for mind, energy and enterprise, the English are unsurpassed
by any people in tho world. But in the earlier history of manufac-
tures, they had another advantage. The other countries continued
to observe their festivals on working days ; — whilst she, by devoting
forty or fifty days more labor annually on her works^at once increas-
ed the amount, and dminishbd the cost of her productions — so that
she was soon enabled to undersell those countries, and drive them
out of their own markets. Thus she became a monopolist among
nations. This naturally drained their wealth, and transferred it to
HER workshops ; it did more — it enabled one class of her subjects
to wield the power of capital against another class, who had nothing
to oppose, in the contest, but the capacity of labor. The consequence
was and is now, that the labor and life of the working classes depend
on the profits or losses which result from the employment of capital,
When the master, for such he is in everything but the name, finds it
884 AitcnBisuop hughes.
HIS interest, he employs them, and not only does he work them six
days in the week, but for them the day is fourteen, sixteen and even
eighteen hours long. By this he increases the amount, and con-
sequently cheapens the price of their toil, and we read from official
documents that even thuS, they can hardly earn enough to procure
the first necessaries of life. This is while they are employed — and
if the master cannot augment his capital, he dispenses with their
labor and leaves them to idleness and destitution for months at a
time.
But it is only from the reports connected with the poor and the
poor laws, that one can form any idea of what must be the con-
dition of the working classs. Neither is this feature unconnected
with the change to which I have alluded. Under the old system
there were no poor laws, other than those of the Gospel, which
were expressed in the simple words, "this is my commandment, that
you love one another." But then it was ordained and understood,
as a RELIGIOUS law, that the one third of the ecclesiastical revenues
belonged to the poor. From this and from individual charity they
obtained relief, sweetened to them by the very kindness with which
it was administered. All this Church property was seized on by the
government and squandered in the expenditures of a licentious
monarch, and in the recompense of his interested and cringing
flatterers. Hence, the foundation of the enormous wealth and
revenues of the nobility and aristocracy, of the present day — who
never think of the poor, except when the progressive accumula-
tion of their miseries and destitution demands the imposition of
new taxes for their support. Nothing can bfetter attest the evils to
the poor, resulting from this measure, and tlie heartlessness of the
nobles who seized on their patrimony, than the pro\isions of an act
under the subsequent reign of the King Edward VI. The act is
directed against " vagabondry" — and after stating that if those who
are guilty of it " should be punished with death, whipping, or
imprisonment, it were not without their deserts, and would be
for the benefit of the Commonwealth ;" it goes on to ordain that
any person idling or loitering about, for three days, should be mark-
ed on the breast with a hot iron with the letter V — should be a
slave for ta^'o years, — and should he run away and be absent four-
teen days, during th.at time, then, " he should be a slave for hfe."
In the same spirit of legislation the aristocracy have contrived to
alter the laws of taxation so as to throw the greater part of the
public burthen on the lower and less we.althy classes, until at the
present day, whilst the wages of the working classes are reduced,
whilst they are thrown out of employment, the very bread which
they eat is made dear or diminished by taxation.
N'ow_ if these things are so to an extent that is alarming and
almost incredible, in the richest comitry of the world ; and if God
gave variety to the seasons, and fi-uitfulness to the earth for the sup-
port of all its inhabitants, and if what is said here be true, as it is,
within reduced extremes both of wealth and bounty, of all the
LECTUEE OX SOCIAI. SEKVITUDE. 38S
otlier nations of Europe, it is evident that there is a great and ory-
iug injustice somewhere — that the true relation of eights and
DUTIES, extending all through the comphcated elements of society, is
not understood : — that the social machine has lost its equilibrium of
right motion, owing to a vicious displacement of its essential weights
and balances, and, in fine, that more than three hundred years from the
period when in the transition of society they passed from the con-
dition of feudal serfs to that of modern freemen, the condition of
social servitude is in some respects less tolerable than it then was. In
the first epoch they were slaves, dependent on the absolute will of
their masters ; — in the second they were self-depending on the soil,
to which they belonged, for their support, and on their feudal
lords for protection ; in the third they have fallen under a new and
undefined power, called capital. Neither can they remove their
hardships through, legislation — they may and must bear what is im-
posed on them, but they can have no voice, at least in those countries,
in either the selection or distribution of the burthen. Is there any
hope for the peaceful amelioration of their condition ? There are
schools of speculation or social philosophy, who say that there is —
and pretend to show how it may be accomplished. But for my own
part, knowing that whatever amelioration has taken place in the his-
tory of the w^hole human race and of the world, in the condition of
SOCIAL SERVITUDE, lias been wrought out by the principles of Christian-
ity, through its actions on the human heart, I have little confidence in
any other power. Bring from the pages of the inspired volume,
those lessons of Divine wisdom and goodness with which they
■ abound — infuse their spirit into the hearts of the rich and powerful
until you overpower the avarice and selfishness that have made them
obdurate and insensible ; teach them to love money less, and man-
kind, that is, their own nature, more — and if they will learn the
heavenly lesson, in practice as well as theory, Christianity shall
again have occasion to exult in the triumph of her principles, and
the world itself have occasion to excl lim, as in ancient days, " Behold
how they love one another."
26
386 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
THE NEW YORK CATHOLIC CHURCH DEBT
ASSOCIATION-
SPEECH OF BISHOP HUGHES AT THE MEETING IN CARROLL HALL
MAY 3, 1841.
A VEKY numerous and highly respectable meeting of the Catholics
of New York was held, pursuant to requisition, on Monday-
evening, May the 3d, in Carroll Hall. Gregory Dillon, Esq., was
unanimously called to the chair. Mr. B. O'Connor was then
appointed secretary.
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes rose to address the meeting, and
was received with deafening applause. After reminding the audi-
ence that the meeting had been convened for the purpose of consid-
ering a plan for extinguishing the debt at present resting on the
Catholic churches of this city, the Right Rev. gentleman proceeded
as follows : —
I was disposed to wait until a large number might be present, as
I am about to submit some measures of a general and important
character, but as the evening is advancing, I deem it necessary to
proceed to unfold to you the views I have to present. We have
hitherto met in relation chiefly to subjects affecting interests which
might be discussed without requiring any future action in relation
to them, either on the part of the speaker or those whom they
addressed. It is not so at present ; for the subject to which I have
now to invite your attention, is that of the heavy debts which
oppress the churches and render the increase of suitable temples
for worship altogether too slow for the wants of the people. I
have a plan to propose which has in view the relief of those churches
from the heavy burdens under which they labor, but that plan can-
not have its proper efficiency unless it have scope and the deter-
mined will of those for whose benefit it is proposed. It is for this
reason I should have wished that the meeting had been more
numerous.
Before proceeding further, I shall allude to the progress of another
subject which has an attraction to the meeting. It is the progress
of our claim to the Fund to which we are contributors. Of the
fate of the application to the Common Council in this City, all are
aware, and we all know that thejvoice and tone of our first meeting
after, was as spirited as the one before the denial but not the defeat
of our cliiira [cheers], and that our sentiments were expressive of
the sense of justice which must actuate the men who had yet to
decide on that claim, who had the welfare of the people at heart.
Our confidence in them has not been disappointed. A Report
has been made by the officer of the State to whom the subject was
referred, and it is gratifying to know that every principle of justice,
equality and fair play of the American Constitution has been sanc-
tioned by this high authority of the American People. [Cheers.]
Yet, as I have heretofore expressed to you, it is not always justice
CHUECH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 387
which triumphs in assemblies, for there may be those within them
who will cling pertinaciously to their own narrow views, and
endeavor to (effect what they conceive to be a great good, no mat-
ter how others should suffer. It is therefore necessary until success
is assured, that we should have our minds fixed upon it, for as long
as the human voice can be animated by the sound of justice we shall
continue to cry for our rights. [Cheers.] I shall now proceed to
speak to you in detail, of the debt of the churches and the effect of
that debt upon our interests, and the prospective interests of that
rising generation which is coming forward, and to whom constant
attention must be directed.
If we had our churches filled on Sunday there must still be one
half that cannot enter the Temple of God. There is not at present
sufficient room for those who would attend if they had the opportu-
nity. Sometime ago this building was purchased, and, notwithstand-
ing the churches in its neighborhood, there is no doubt that if
provided with the necessary pastors, there would be more than
enough to fill it ; but then it has been found that opening this and
adding another church for the accommodation of the people, would
so injure the church immediately adjoining, that it must be left to
some other more favorable time when such an effect is no longer to
be dreaded. Such is the lamentable state of affairs in this respect,
that the measure of responsibility is full to the brim, and if one
drop more is put in, it overflows. If on account of the debts
under which they labor, any of the churches should be sold
or disposed of, it leaves a vacancy that cannot be filled, and will
it be permitted that our churches shall forever remain under the
dominion of creditors ? This state of things would be entirely
changed, if with united energy we could act upon some well-
digested plan ; we could theu i» a short time add church to
church, and so keep pace with the wants of our increasing Catholic
population.
We can never expect success unless there be concert and unity of
action. Every man should feel that he has an individual interest in
this cause, and act conscious of being engaged in a good work. For
that was surely a good work which facilitated to mankind the means
of their becoming acquainted with their God and his mercies, and
enablhig them to realize with greater certainty the end of their crea-
tion. [Cheers.] But besides all this, my friends, you know, or
should know, that in diminishing the capital for which your church-
es stand indebted, you are relieving yourself of that continual drain
of money which year after year conies out of yonr purses. Go on
as at present, and at the end of ten years you will have paid an
amount equal to two-thirds of the whole debt ! That is, supposing
the debt to be $300,000, the interest on that $300,000 will in ten
years amount to $200,000, and, after all, at the end of the ten years
the $300,000 of debt will be still staring you in the face as to-day !
Consequently, then, this is not only a good work in a spiritual and
religious sense, but it is — judging according to the Avisdom of this
383 ARCHBISHOP IITTGHES.
world — it is yom- interest and advantage ; for the debt must be paid
and who must pay it but you, Catholics ?
There is another point of view, too, in which the plap I am about
to suggest will appear worthy of support and confidence. At pres-
ent, whenever a pressure comes upon a church, and a creditor stands
waiting for his money, the trustees must either borrow and displace
hiai by another creditor, or they must address themselves to the con-
gregation, and in the congregation there are some dozen or two
dozen or three dozen of men more liberal perhaps, or more conspic-
uous, and to them every eye is immediately directed, while there
are numerous other professors of their creed, who need the services
of religion, and are perhaps willing to contribute if in a way availa-
ble to the end, who are overlooked altogether. The burden falls on
a few, and in these isolated efforts many are never called on at all.
Now, my project would be made to extend itself, in such a manner
that every Catholic in the city of New York, possessed of .ability,
should contribute, and that those unwilling, being able, should also
be on record. [Cheers.] Not that I would force the matter, nor
do I think that that would be at all necessary. But yet I do say that
that man who is able to support his religion with a moderate sum,
who has no fair pretext for<not doing so, and who wishes the presence
of his clergy in his family whenever necessary, and has the. consola-
tion of attending the public religious service of his church, and yet
is unwilling to share in supporting his religion, fails in a moral and
religious duty, and it should be known that such a man refused to
support the church of his brethren. [Cheers.]
We spoke at a former meeting of two plans. The one recommend-
ing each of the churches, in it^ sphere, to try what it could do —
the other, of a more Catholic nature, embracing all the churches on
this Island, and in Brooklyn, if ^hey choose to join us. As this lat-
ter \ie\v appeared to be received with the greatest favor, and as others
speaking with me on the subject have expressed their opinion that it
was the only available and efficient mode, I have arranged a plan
which I shall presently have the pleasure of submitting to this meet-
ing. [Cheers.] However, I mentioned then, what I have now to re-
peat, that in anything of this kind, men must take large views of
the subject, otherwise it will not succeed as we anticipated. I may,
for instance, happen to belong to a particular church — as a private
member of the church, or even as a pastor — that happens to be in
better circumstances than others, and I may say, " Oh ! we are
happy, well off, it is not necessary for us to exert oursehes." Now
if any man say that, that man is not fit to appreciate my plan, for
he is no Catholic in his feelings. The Catholic is of a large soul
and a liberal mind — does not set geographical limits between this
quarter of the city and that ; and he who acts differently, why, I
must say that a Catholic heart does not beat in his bosom. [Cheers.]
To make this plan efficient, then, you must be, not so many
different congregations, but one congregation having a number of
churches under its care, and possessed of that determination to go
CHUE-CH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 389
in with that unity of effort which will alone relieve our churches.
And, after all, even in point of reasoning the 'argument of the man I
have just now supposed would not be a good one. Why ? Because
although he happens to belong this year to a church in affluent cir-
cumstances, next year he moves nearer to a church precisely in the
state to which he was before indifferent, for there is no fixedness of
residence, and men change their churches as they change their habi-
tation, and even in this point of view he has no good reason for ma-
king the exception. But I will not suppose such a case at all. I
shall rather suppose that if the plan be found practicable — worthy
of your approbation, that nothing will be found to mar the harmony
and beauty of its action until it has accomplished the end for which
it is now about to be submitted. [Loud cheers.]
Another great object to be attended to, and which I have kept in
view to the best of my power in arranging my plan, is simplicity.
This undertaking is something on a large scale, as you perceive, and
any plan for its accomplishment must be one in which the machinery
shall be as simple as possible, so that a child may understand its
working. If you were to make it complicated with a great many
rules and regulations, you would find that these would overlay and
obscure the principal object, and therefore I have studied the utmost
simplicity in the arrangement of the present plan. With that
simplicity, however, is combined adequate means for accomplishing
the end in view, and, as I have said before, it will only require the
action of each one in his particular situation and according to the
duty we have all to perform, to j'ealize all that we anticipate. Not
at once, indeed, but with time, which is a powerful agent in all great
undertakings. To give you an outline of to}' plan, it will bring every
Caljholic into action — every one. There is a division of action. There
are those who are to be contributors who have their part of the plan to
carry out, in giving either yearly or monthly what they feel able to
offer, and what their generous spirit will prompt them to give to-
wards this end, fropi those Avho may give a shilling a mouth to any
higher sum. And I question if there be any one in health so poor
as to be unable to contribute a shilling a month — I doubt if there
be any such, and if there be, it is because they either do not husband
the fruits of their industry, or are overtaken by sickness or some
calamity which requires another direction of the means they possess.
But whilst one may give a shilling, another may give a dollar, and
another may make every member of his family contribute a shilling
— another may contribute one hundred dollars, or fifty dollars, or
ten dollars, according as God has prospered his undertakings. But
then who are to call upon them'for their contributions ?
That is another branch of the division of labor. Those who will
contribute will be called upon once a month by persons duly author-
ized for that purpose, and they are to meet periodically to make re-
turns to another class of persons, and these again to a third ; and
every month there is to be a meeting in this Hall of all the Catho-
lics, and to them will be presented, in the form of a synopsis, an
390 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
account of all the proceedings duving the previous month of those
officers referred to ; and thus you may see that I have taken particular
pains not to oppress anyone with too much labor. If collectors were
appointed and indefinite labor devolved upon them, they will go on
with a little spirit for a short time, but never seeing the end of their
work, they will get discouraged and remit their exertions. But if
you divide their labor so that they may fulfill their task, then it is
to be hoped that there will be fohnd persons who for the merit of
the work itself, and for the satisfaction of their being instrumental
in relieving the churches from their present embarrassment, will go
througli with thi^ labor. It will be also an honor to them. Because
the books recording these proceedings will remain a monument to
future generations, of the zeal and faith of the men who first built
and worshipped in these temples of the living God! [Cheers.]
I have taken care, then, to divide the labor. So, here are two
classes, one having to contribute periodically according to their,
means, another having to call for that contribution, and their ac-
counts to be inspected by another class again. Then, again, the
subject is to be kept constantly before the public — it is not to be
lost sight of. It will not do for us to be actuated by a lively spirit
of zeal for once or twice or thrice at a public meeting, and then to
allow the undertaking to sink from our view. In such a case it
would be useless to proceed. But in order to keep it constantly
before the public, there will be meetings monthly in' this hall of all
the collectors, and of all the superintendents of districts into which
the city is to be di\ided, and they will compare their retui-ns, and
lay before you an account of the progress and success of their labors
from month to month. Thus the subject will be kept constantly
before the public, and, at the same time, encouragement will be .af-
forded to those engaged in the work. [Cheers.]
But there is another point also, not unimportant. And that is
the exactitude and security with regard to the disposal of the mon-i
eys received ; and, accordingly, I have taken paips in arranging my
plan, for the observance of the greatest precision and exactitude in
reference to the amount received from its first collection fi'oni the
man who gives his one dollar, or ten dollars, or fifty or a hundred
dollars, up to the Trustees, who shall see to its appropriation to the
specific object for which it was contributed, and by which means every
man shall have his voucher for the proper distribution of the money.
These are the outlines of the plan. There is nothing required but,
understanding the subject, and zeal and perseverance, and with that
understanding, and that zeal, and that perseverance, I have not the
slightest doubt, that, incredible as it may now appear, at the end of
four years from this time the debt on the Catholic churches would
be next to nothing at all. [Loud cheers.] If you saw that event
accomplished, then how easy would it be, whenever a church was
wanted, to erect one — I do not say magnificent churches — I do not
speak of splendid ones— but I speak of those that would be suffi-
ciently respectable for the design to which they would be appropri-
CHUECH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 391
ated, and in harmony with the means and wants of the people for
whose use they are to be erected. Now I know that all the churches
are not equally in debt. But, then, if you made a collection merely
for the churches most in debt, others would not feel the same in-
terest. The effort would cease to be general, and the moment it
ceases to be general, that moment the principle of its success is lost.
To succeed, then, the effort must be general — it must reach to all
who appreciate the value of religion, and possess the means to aid
its progress. [Cheers.]
Before reading to you the plan which I have drawn out, I have
to state that I have taken a precaution, which you yourselves will
see to have been at once necessary and proper. That precaution
consisted in calling the clergymen of the city together, and submit-
ting the matter to them, precisely as I do to you, and as it must
strike every man who is solicitous for the welfare of the Church —
told them what is obvious, that if they did not take the matter to
heart, as I do, it would be entirely useless for me to proceed further.
I can do but little without their help. But with them, each one in
the centre of his circle, a great deal can be done. And I therefore
thought it essential to the success of the plan that they should hear
it, weigh it, understand it, and that they should adopt it willingly.
And I must say they did so, not only willingly, but with a zeal
worthy of their sacred vocation. [Loud cheers.] The plan has
been unanimously adopted by them, and they have pledged them-
selves by their written signatures, to act by its requirements, and
labor for the attainment of the end proposed by it so long as there
yet remains anything to be accomplished for its attainment. [Con-
•tinued cheers.] ••
But all this will not suffice, unless you also enter on this under-
taking with the same spirit. For it is not altogether the place of
the clergy to be talking of financial affairs — of money, interest and
so on. This is not our calling — God has called us to a spiritual
calhng ; nevertheless, placed in our present circumstances, and bound
to labor in every way calculated to give efficiency to our spiritual
labors, why should we not embark in this undertaking with the
same zeal as we would in any other good work. But it would be.
odious and useless in us to put ourselves forward to an unwilling
people. You must be a willing people. You must be ready to as-
sist us. You must be ready to open your doors for us as soon as you
see us, though perfectly aware of the object of our visit. It could
not be supposed that we would force ourselves on you, in a matter
in which you are far more deeply interested than we. We are but
insignificant persons — our wants are few, and will always be sup-
plied— and we could easily pass through the short period of our la-
bors in this life without taking on us the toil and trouble necessarily
attending a work of this kind. But we do engage in this work, in
the confidence that we are doing a good work for you, and your
brethren who are here and who are to come hereafter — for your
children and your children's children, to endless ages. [Loud ap-
392 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
plause.] For work connected with religion is everlasting work. It
is not like all temjioral works— completed to-day and perished to-
morrow ! ■ r -u
It is not then enough that the plan has the approbation of the
clergy without exception. It is necessary that it should be adopted
by the people, and if not adopted by them, certainly we will not
present ourselves to a people unwilling to see us. [Cheers.]
I will now read to you the title, preamble and rules of an associa-
tion, which it is proposed should embrace the clergy and whole Cath-
olic population of the cities of JSTew York and Brooklyn. [Cheers.]
THE NEW TOEK CATHOLIC CHTJECH DEBT ASSOCIATION.
Wheeeas, the indebtedness and embarrassed situation of the
Catholic Churchep of New York is attended with two principal
evil consequences, viz. :^the one making it a matter of great diffi-
culty and exertion to meet the interest and expenses of churches al-
ready erected; the other making it almost impossible to erect new
ones, even when they become absolutely necessary to meet the reli-
gious wants of our rapidly increasing Catholic population. And,
whereas, it is a religious duty incumbent on us to provide that tem-
ples erected by ourselves, and now dedicated to the service of Al-
mighty God, should be rescued from the danger of profanation by
passing, like secular property, into the hands of creditors. And,
whereas, even in a temporal poin;t of view it is not only just that we
should pay our debts, but it is also advantageous to ourselve"? that
we should be relieved from the exhausting drain of annual in'.erest,
by the extinguishment or diminution of the capital for which our
churches are indebted. And, whereas, it is the opinion of those
who have examined the subject that this most important and desirar
ble end can be attained within the space of three or four years, by
a hearty, zealous and general co-operation of all the Catholics of the
city through the means of a well-devised organization for that pur-
pose. Therefore, — The following plan is submitted for approval:
1. As the object is to unite all the Catholics of New York in a
general effort to relieve the churches by voluntary contribution, ac-
cording to the means of each, the city shall be divided into dis-
tricts, corresponding with the number and location of the Catholic
churches ; and the Pastor in each district, aided by the assistant
Pastors and Trustees, shall be charged with carrying out the system
of contribution within the limits of such district.
2. The Pastor with his assistants shall subdivide his district into
sections — each section so small that an active collector may be able
to visit every Catholic house or roomholder in each once in the
month by giving an average of one hour a day for that purpose.
3. The Pastor shall appoint two collectors over each section in
his district. They should be persons of good moral and religious
character, who having only a given amount of duty to perform, will
enter on it with zeal and discharge it with faithfulness and assiduit'
CHURCH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 393
as a work of charity done for the glory of God, and the promotion
of our holy religion.
4. The Pastor shall supply them with a book, specially prepared
,for that purpose, and adapted to the easy record of names, residence
and contributions.
5. The collectors shall first find out and record the name and resi-
dence of each head of family (with the number of persons composing
the family) occupying a house or rooms in the section, and make re-
turns of the same to the Pastor and Superintendent of the district.
It will then be their duty to wait on each Catholic resident in their
section and receive for the purposes of this association, yearly or
monthly contributions.
6. These contributions the collectors will set down opposite to
the name of each contributor ; and during the first week of each
month, they will hand over to the Pastor of the district the amount
collected during the month previous. They will receive in the same
book and on the same page his receipt for the amount, which they
may show to the contributors on their next monthly visit. This
will go to inspire the j)eople with that confidence on which the suc-
cess of the undertaking so much depends.
7. The Pastors will in the second week of each month hand over
the amount received by them from the collectors of sections, to the
Bishop as head of this association, or to some other person who shall
be accountable for the same at the end of each quarter. He shall
give a receipt in the book of the pastors, in the same manner as they
do in the books of the collectors of sections.
8. On the fourth Monday of each month there shall be a public
meeting of the President, the Superintendent of districts, the Col-
lectors of sections, and the Catholic public generally, in Carroll Hall,,
at which the collectors shall report the amount received in their
various sections — the superintendents of districts the amount re-
ceived from their several districts, and the President the amount re-
ceived from the several superintendents during the month previous..
9. There are a very great many of our Catholics who are not
householders, and, of course, do not come under the foregoing clas-
sification. They are among the most able and willing to contribute
to this object. They are unmarried mechanics, domestics and work-
ing men. Now, as the object of this association is to include every
Catholic in the city, in an efibrt which is for the benefit of all, some
mode must be adopted by which these persons will have an oppor-
tunity of contributing. It will be for the pastors and superinten-
dents of districts to arrange the means necessary to obtain their
contributions. A good plan would be to have a table and books
in the vestibule or some other convenient place of the church on
Sundays, where they could subscribe their names and make- their
ofierings.
10. AH such moneys shall be set down under a separate head' and
be accounted for by receipts from one to another, the same as- that
returned by collectors of sections.
394 AECHBISHOP HUGHES,
11. The President shall preserve the moneys handed over to him,
and for which he shall have given receipts, until the quarterly meet-
ing, at which time the general quarterly report shall be read, and
if expedient printed. All the moneys collected during the quarter-
shall be distributed to the Trustees of the churches, for the sole pur-
pose of diminishing by so much the capital of the debt on the
church of which they are Trustees, and /or no other purpose whatever.
12. — Distribution. The President shall within the first month of
each succeeding quarter pay over the proceeds of the previous quar-
ter's collection share and share alike to the trustees of the several
churches, and receive their receipts for the same.
13. But as new debts might be contracted as fast as means could
be collected, if no precaution were taken against it, the several
boards of trustees shall give a statement of the amount of their in-
debtedness, with the understanding that no new engagement shall
be entered into by them whilst they continue to receive anything
from this association.
14. In order to give more efficiency to this association, no private
collection, fair, oratorio, or other expedient, shall be had for any of
the churches for the benefit of which this association is organized.
15. But as the religious wants *t)f the people may require addi-
tional churches in some localities during the existence of this asso'
ciation, if the clergyman to be appointed over such a work can raise
among the population desiring or requiring such new church, one-
fourth of its cost in cash, then from the proceeds of the burial ground
attached to the Cathedral this fourth shall be increased to one-third,
provided the amount do not exceed three thousand dollars in any one
year. As no church shall in future be conseci'ated which shall be
indebted for more than one-third its entire cost.
16. The President and Pastor shall sign their names ; the Trus-
tees of the churches shall affix their corporate seals to these rules of
the association. They shall likewise be adopted by the vote of this
public meeting as representing the . different congregations of the
city, and such signature, seal and adoption shall be as a solemn
pledge of Catholic Union and Catholic Honoe ; by which as one
people, we bind ourselves to each other to adhere to this associa-
tion and to discharge faithfully the duties assigned respectively, un-
til every church in the city shall be, if not entirely out of debt, at
ileast out of all danger of being profaned by passing under the do-
minion of creditors. Then, indeed, with the blessings of God our
.religion shall prosper, and new temples unencumbered shall spring
up as rapidly as they shall be required. All this we can accomplish,
■and the day of its accomplishment will be a glorious day for the
'Catholics in New York and in America.
The Bishop having read the above preamble and rules for the as-
sociation, said,
_ Now, connected with all this there are at least a thousand ques-
tions that might be asked, the discussion of which would be per-
fectly useless, because you have there the bone and muscle of the
CHUECH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 89'5
plan, and it only remains for those who will have embraced it id
clothe it with what is necessary to make it perfect symmetry and
and perfect beauty. For instance, it might be said that a church-
suppose one of the German churches, or one lately built, — cue that
owes $1,600 will have an equal share with one that $30,000. Now,
I will try, if possible, to explain a little, how this, notwithstanding
any apparent disad\antage, comes in reality to promote the common
interest of all churches, no matter how situated. Suppose that there
are ten churches that will derive benefit from the funds, then the
first division pf money may pay the debt of one and accordingly on
the next periodical division of the funds, the share of that one will
be distributed over the others. The people in the church thus freed
from debt it should be recollected, too, do not cease to contribute
to the funds of the association. Their honor is pledged that they
should continue to contribute until the debts of all the churches be
paid.
And now, if every Catholic had adopted this plan and carried it
out, how much do you think it would cost to pay off the debts of
the churches? Why, only $300! I say when the question comes
to me only $300. Is there any individual who, by the blessing of
God,. is in circumstances enabling him to do so, would be so indif-
ferent in the matter, as to refuse to give $300 for this i')urpose?
Well, then, it is only for one man to give $300, or $1Q0, or $50, pv
$10, or a shilling a month ! That is all the burden on the individukl.
And is it to be supposed that vve shall labor with such an incubus
as at present presses us down, when the means of obtaining its re-
moval are so easy of attainment ?
By my plan will be presented the means of obtaining the o:^rings
of one class of Catholics, who hitherto have not had the opportunity
so readily afforded of contributing. I mean the jDious and virtuous
young women who are living at service. [Cheers.] The same with
the working men. Who of those could not contribue a shilling a,
month ? Who of them will not do so, when he recollects that often;
before he turns the corner he spends twice as much [Laughter], but
who would readily contribute to this good cause if the opportunity
were presented? ■•
I. am persuaded that diiRcult as it may appear, if you adopt this
plan^^persevere in this plan — pach in his own sphere of exertion,
that in a very short time the heap that is now a mountain threateii'i'
ing to crush us down, will be seen sinking and disappearing like *
snow-rift in the warm sun of May-daj. [Loud cheers.] ■''-
Without saying a word more I submit the plan for your adoptiorij'
looking on you, after the notice given in all the churches, as reprie^
senting all the Oatholis churches of the city of New York. With<jiitf
your adoption of it I would conceive that I had done my duty, and'
might retire in the consciousness of having done so. But now that'
the clergymen have done their duty, I am confident that the people
will not be found wanting. [Deafening applause.] '
The Chairman then rose and said that the objects and principles
396 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
of the proposod association having been so fully and ably explained
by the Rt. Bay;. Prelate, he would merely put the question of the
adoption by the meeting of the preamble and rules, which had been
just read. The motion was then put, and they were adopted by
acclamation.
The Bishop then said :
There is but one observation more which I shall make, and that
has reference to a circumstance that occurred since our last meeting.
A poor man called at our house the other day and sent for me, and
with a very great deal of feeling said, " I have read, sir, in the news-
papers that our churches are liable to be sold for debt, and it has
afflicted me very much that any person should take interest from the
house of God." I replied, that men who loaned money fairlj- could
not be expected to do without receiving interest for it. "Well,"
he said, " I am a servant in a family, a waiter, and I am going out
of town to see my family, who live in Boston, but here is my mite ; "
and on so saying he laid down a two and a half dollar gold piece.
[Grea,t cheering.] I regret that I do not now recollect this man's
name, but it has been placed on record by Rev. Mr. Starr. And
now, as I cannot be iirst, and not wishing to be the last, in this good
work — for I do not think there is any necessity of concealing what
we do, — I would authorize the secretary to record my name for
|100 for my yearly subscription. [Deafening applause.!
[The amount collected at this meeting was $2,432.50.]
Meeting of the New York Catholic Church Debt Asso-
ciation.—May 10, 1841.
A rAeeting of the New York Church Debt Association was held
in Carroll Hall. The attendance was numerous and respectable,
John Quinn, Esq., was unanimously called to the chair.
Bishop Hughes spoke as follows :— It might probably be antici-
pated by the meeting that I have something special to submit this
evening to its consideration. This, however, is not t]je case. I had
hoped when it was moved last evening that there should be an ad-
journed meeting this night, to be Able to have some further details
of the means by which our plan is to be carried into execution —
that is to say, that books prepared expressly for the purpose, mak-
ing it as easy as possible to record th,e names and the residences and
the amounts of subscriptions, might be prepared, so that when the
time, now approaching, shall have arrived to place these books at
the disposition of the different superintendents of districts to be by
them given to t]ie collectors of sections, it should be found that they
should all correspond, and obviate as much as possible the necessity
of arranging them, each collector for himself. I have not, however,
owing to other occupations, been able to have these books as yet
prepared. I gave them in charge to a gentleman, who would, I
have no doubt, bestow as much time as possible in preparing them, and
I trust that by the end of the week it will be in our power to furnish
the clergy with them to be by them handed to the collectors.'
CHUECU DEBT ASSOCIATIOH. 39')
There is another step ; for I think that in this matter the great
security of success depends upon the understanding of the subject
by all the parties concerned ; and whilst there may be general rules
for all the collectors in the various districts to conform to, I think
that it will be of great advantage to prepare something like a copy
of rules, to be furnished to every family, so that they should have
it by them, and they, entering into the undertaking in the same
spirit that actuated us, should be prepared to delay the collectors as
brief a period as possible. Indeed I would expect from the zeal of
the Catholic community, that when they will have understood this,
knowing that the collectors will call once a month, the head of the
family — and if you trust it to the pious mother you will seldom be
disappointed — should have the Contribution of the month, and of all
the members of the family who may be contributors already prepared
so as to hand over at once to the collector the oifering of the house-
hold of charity. [Qheers.] Then, indeed, the business of a collector
would be a light and not an unpleasant one, because his visit would
be anticipated — he would be received cordially, and instead of hav-
ing to beg and plead as in some cases, he would find that that offer-
ing had been set apart after the manner of the first Christians, and
was already waiting for him, and he would pass on in his mission
of zeal and charity to the next contributor.
Now, I think, it will be at once seen that these rules will greatly
facilitate the work of the collectors, and it will be an easy matter
for each family to have a copy of the rules in a conspicuous place,
and knowing that monthly they will have an opportunity of becom*
ing acquainted with the manner in which the money is apj)ropriated,
they will labor in the full consciousness that they are laboring for
God, — that is to say, as much as man can, by promoting his glory
on earth, and making his name adored, and his knowledge more
widely diffused amongst his people — and that the little offering
which his means have enabled him to make has been rendered sa-
cred to that object. Thus you will find that perfect harmony
amongst all parts of the scheme will be effected. It is true, as the
gentleman said just now, that our churches are in a lamentable con-
dition, tor so long as that which is consecrated to the Almighty is
in danger of being revoked and transferred to any other use that
the spirit of speculation may suggest to those having claims against
it, so long is the Church in a state of bondage. And yet there is
one remark that I cannot omit making, which is, that notwithstand-
ing the comparative poverty of the Catholic community — notwith-
standing the embarrassed state of the Catholic churches — notwith-
standing the hesitation which is felt at the idea of loaningj money to
churches of other detiominations similarly circumstanced, there is one
thing exceedingly glorious for our reputation, that, so far as I know,
no man that ever had a just claim against a Catholic church ever
lost one farthing by it. [Loud cheers.] This has been our char-
acter hitherto, and if we succeed in our present undertaking, it wiD
be the crowning of our history. [Cheers.]
ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
. As I observed before, I have nothing special to offer for your cou-
sideration ; at the same time I cannot conclude without expressing
tho gratiticatio^ I felt at the spirit manifested at our last meeting.
I said then that if you were not willing to embark in this undertak-
ing, it would not only be odious but useless in me to press it on
your attention. But you yourselves anticipated all that I could say
on that subject, and instead of its being necessary for me to urge
you on, I found that unless I took care I should myself be lett be-
hind ! [Laughter and loud cheers.] I have had, from the necessity
of circumstances, oftentimes to interest myself for the accomphsh^
ment of public undertakings connected with our religion, and I can
say with safety, that I have never seen any, connected with which
there was so little that was unpleasant as the one proposed on the
occasion of our last meeting here. Because in other cases the effort
^vas— that of a part out of the whole— those immediately interested
thinkiug that their neighbors should be so too, a»d when they were
not found so, yielding to the discouraging influence, and sometimes
perhaps feeling a rising reproach against them, for not having char-
ity enough, or feeling suflicient interest in that in which they them-
sei\ es were concerned. But when it was proposed that we should
p,ll be one congregation and contribute according to our means, — in
a word, when the undertakhig was placed on the broad CathoUc
principle, all the difficulty ^■anished, and there did not appear to be,
1 will not say a dissenting voice, but, a dissenting feeling in the
large audience assembled here.
iS ow, then, there is one other remark to which I will refer, and I
do so because it has its effect not only in attaining our object, but
in a moral point of view. You are aware from experience, and that
experience multiplying lately, that there are in this community those
who secretly cherished the pretension of taking your children to
educate them according to their own notions and intentions. That
is no longer a secret ; and in proportion as that secret — if secret it
may be called — became known to you, in that proportion you be-
came aroused to a conviction of your duty to apply every means to
bring your children up to mature years under the influence of that
rehgiou to which you trust your own eternal welfare. Well, what
jias that to do with the present subject? I shall just now let you
see that it has a great deal to do with it. If a man, for instance,
i(ho was able to contribute Ave dollars for himself, and unable to
contribute any more for his family, were to divide that sum, giving
so much for himself, and putting the remaindei- into the hands of
liis children — those old enougli to feel the honor and pleasure of
contributing — that single circumstance, occurring in the childhood
of life, would make an impression on the mJ-nd of that child that
would always remain, and sink deeper, perhaps, than the learned
lesson of pastor or parent in their most ardent zeal. That child as
he grows up will feel that these are no strange edifices for which
tVoui his childhood he had had the honor and satisfaction of con-
ii ibuting, and he will thus become still more firmly attached to that
CHUKCII DEBT ASSOCIATION. 399
religion for the redemption of whose temples this association has
been formed. Now I would suggest that and much more in the
formulary, or rather prospectus of the whole plan, which I would
wish to see distributed in families, and the plan being thus com-
pletely organized, and the people willing to contribute, and all in
their several situations discharging their duties, three years will not
have passed away until your church, and. your churches and all con-
nected with them shall be as you are yourselves, teee and inde-
pendent. [Loud applause.]
[The whole amount subscribed at this meeting was $969.02.]
Meeting of the New York Catholic Church Debt Asso-
ciation.—May 26, 1841.
A meeting of the New York Church Debt Association was held
on the above date in Carroll Hall. The large building was filled
with a highly respectable auditory. On the, platform were the
Right Rev. Bishop Hughes, Very Rev. Dr. Power, Rev. Dr. Pise,
Rev. Mr. Starrs, Rev. Mr. Quarter, the Rev. Mr. N. O'Donnell and
Rev. Mr. Walsh, of Brooklyn. Robert Hogan, Esq., was unanimously
called to preside, and took the Chair amid the loud applause of the
meeting.
The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then rose and was received with
enthusiastic applause. He addressed the meeting as follows : — You
must not be discouraged, gentlemen, at seeing us meet so frequently
without having yet put into execution almost any part of the plan
that has been adopted for the end which we now propose to ourselves.
There is a great deal of delay in getting things ready. Certainly I
have urged expedition, as much as in my power, on those to whom
I have entrusted some part of" the preparations — for instance, the
books that are to be all uniform, and prepared so as to be most
easily kept by the Collectors. And whilst many are impatient in
their zeal to see the work going on, we have deemed it better rather
to wait until we should understand perfectly the whole of the plan,
and have all engaged in it to conform to it. It is on this account
that these meetings, though they should have no other effect, are
advantageous — they gi^•e a similarity of idea. The persons who
meet here go abroad all understanding the thing in the same manner.
And we ha\'e delayed the execution of the plan precisely in order
that this effect may be obtained. The last time we met I spoke of
the importance of its being well understood in families, because the
anticipation now is that every one who calls himself a Catholic will
do his duty — that the Superintendents of Districts, and the Reverend
Clergy, will themselves take charge of the collectors of sections in
rheir districts, that they will see them — encourage them — direct
them — and that these then in their several sections will call upon
the people, and that the people themselves will be prepared, and
understanding the thing perfectly will diminish as much as possible
the trouble and the labor which these Collectors are kind enough
to undertake.
400 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
In a, mass of people such as ours, scattered and lost as it were in
the great multitude of this city, it is not in one day that you can
have a thing generally known. It requires a little timd. It will
penetrate but gradually, and you may be sure that the success of
this undertaking will be great just in propoi-tion as it is uniformly
well understood, and pordially approved of in the hearts of the
people.
In several of the churches they have called meetings and received
subscriptions, and there the most encouraging will and disposition
were manifested. This would be all well if for a brief effort and a
single object. But it is not so. It is to set a system into motion
and activity — to attend to it patiently and perseveringly for one
year — and if that be not long enough for a second year — and even
for a third if necessary, and I have dreaded that the effect of these
meetings if continued, although they seem to contribute to the
amount and to the good will displayed — would be two-fold — first,
that they could not continue with the same animation ; those who
were disposed to give, would give at the first meetings, and then
they would become so sparse that they could not avail. Then, again,
the Collectors would meet with the same people, and in answer to
the request for contributions they would reply that they had already
subscribed elsewhere. True it amounts to the same thing, but it
would be so much of a discouragement to the Collectors. Because
it will be an encouragement to the Collectors, if all the members in
their sections shall understand that they are contributors, and that
they shall receive something as they pass from house to house. I
have therefore thought it best to organize the system and let it de-
scend step by step till it reach every member of the families. And
I have thought it well to procure something like a circular, or an ad-
dress or explanation, which the Collectors in their several. sections
shall leave in every family on their first visit. Then it is to be trus-
ted that the zeal of our people, and that explanation of the plan to be
preserved in the family, reminding them of their duty, Avill accom-
plish our undertaking. I shall read a copy of the circular. It is
brief, it is easily preserved, and I have no doubt that in every fami
ly it will be carefuly kept as a memento of the great work that is
now going on : —
Thb Family CifecuLAu of the " Catholic Chuech Debt Asso-
ciation" OP New Tokk.
The object of the above Association is to pay the debts which are
now oppressing the churches, and by annual interests draining the
"esources of the Catholics of New York.
The Bishop, the Clergy, and the Laity have all concurred in the
ansolute necessity of the measure, and in the united'determination to
carry it into effect.
For this purpose the City has been divided into districts ; the
districts into sections ; the sections into families ; the families may
further lie divided into the members of which it is composed.
CHUECH DEBT ASSOtlATIOK. 401
Npw, the object of this division is, that every member of our com-
munion, male and female, young and old, married and single, who is
willing and worthy to be known as a member of the Catholic Church,
shall become a Member of this Association by paying one shilling a
month, or upwards, towards freeing our churches from debt — unless
he or she be excused by poverty.
What a glorious spectacle of union, charity, and zeal will be ex-
hibited, when each Member of the Church will thus set apart,
voluntarily, his monthly offering for the ransom of the temples of
his God! _
But one shilling a month is the sum for those who are least able to
contribute. Others, to whom God has given more of this world's
goods, will be givers in proportion to their means. Many have already
given their names ; half a dollar, a dollar, three, five, and even eight
dollars a month ; — who can doubt but this will be generally imitated,
according to the means of each ?
The Bishop, Pastors of the churches, Trustees, Collectors and
others, besides Contributors themselves, will discharge the duties
and perform the labors which are assigned them. These are all
regulated and pointed out.
It remains to point out the duties of families and the members
composing them. It is taken for granted that all will subscribe, and
pay monthly, or even for the whole year. But we have now to speak
of the mode of contributing, and the help which may be given by a
little attention in this respect.
The duties of the Collectors of Sections will become tiresome and
unsupportable, unless they are cheered in their labor by the good-
will and co-operation of the families and individuals in their sec-
tions. You rnust be as ready to receive them as they are to call, as
prompt to give your monthly contributions as they are to ask it.
Then you will spare their time, and make their work lightsome and
even pleasant.
In order to do this, the mother — for who has more zeal for the
glory of God, or works of Charity, than the pious mother of a
Catholic family ? — the mother, or the female head of each, might
have the names and contributions of the several members of the
household. All eeadt, from the first week of the month, waiting
for the Collector's call.
Now we recommend and request most earnestly, that this may
be done, in all families where it is practicable. A little book also
might be kept in each family, with the names of thfe children, who
should by all means be enabled to contribute something, as of their
own, and their own free offering. When they grow older, they will
remember this; and the little family book will remind them that- from
childhood they loved their faith ; it will be an heir-loom.
We wish the collectors to leave in every family a copy of this
Circular. ' Let it be preserved, hung up in some safe place, where it
will remind the members of the noble work which is going on, and
o^ the means by which they can promote it. It should also be
26
402 AECftBISHOP HFGHES.
brought under the notice of single persons, who either live in tlie
employment of others, or are boarding in families not Catholic.
This can be done by frequent announcement of it from the pulpits,
and a public notice in the porch of the Church, where opportunities
will be given to such persons to contribute and have their names en-
rolled as Members of the Association.
Finally, there will be a General Meeting of the President, Super-
intendents of Districts, Collectors of Sections, and the Catholic pub-
lic at large, in the Carroll Hall, on the 4th Monday of each month,
when a synopsis of the labors and success of the previous month
shall be made known.
In order to obtain the blessing of Almighty God for the work
itself and those engaged in it, the Holy Sacrifice of Mass will be
offered up in each of the Catholic Churches for the benefit of all the
contributors, on the fourth Tuesday of each month, that is, on the
day next following each of the general monthly meetings.
H^ JOHN HUGHES, Bp., &c.
New York, May 24th, 1841,
[Loud cheers.]
It seems to me that one of these left by the Collectors in every
family as they go roimd for the first time, will do a great deal both
to make known the nature and object of this work, and to facilitate
their labors in the discharge of their duties. There is also a little
formulary of rules for the Collectors themselves, which, however, it
is not necessary now to read, but which will enable them to introduce
method and good order into every part of this otherwise complicated
and diflScult undertaking. There is another document which I have
been requested to lay before you. It contains the name of a gentle-
man who could not attend this evening, but has desired to have his
own name and those of several of his family recorded as subscribers,
and that in a very generous way. The following is his communica-
tion : " At the meeting this evening Bishop Hughes will please
have the names of my family entered for the following sums : —
Andrew Carrigan $100; James Carrigan $10; Andrew Carrigan
$10; Catharine Carrigan $10; Francis Carrigan $10; Mary Car-
rigan $10." [Loud cheers.]
[The meeting was afterwards addressed by Rev. Dr. Powers,
Rev. Dr. Pise, Rev. Mr. Quarter, and others. The total amount
collected was $515.]
Letter to Bishop Hughes, "With His Reply.
New Yokk, Jujte, 3, 1841.
"Yoii are engaged in many noble enterprises for promoting the
welfare of religion in your diocese, any one of which successfully
carried out, I have no doubt they all will be, will be sufficient to
make your name revered and loved by every lover of our holy reli-
gion. But as it is not the object of this communication to express
ray admiration of your character and undertakings, I will abstain
CHUECH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 403
from expressing my sentiments, on those subjects, and proceed at
once to my object.
"You are probably aware that there are many individuals, who,
feeling an interest in the success of your plans, watch very closely
the manner in which they are managed ; and you are probably noi
aware that there are these who are commencing already to shrug
their shoulders and hint that affairs are noi properly managed. I
have heard it insinuated, though not distinctly charged, that part
of the money collected for paying church debts, has been used to-
wards paying for Carroll Hall, and I know that many of our most sen-
sible and influential Catholics consider that purchase, to say the least
of it, a most extravagant. one, and that they would consider them-
selves aggrieved by any such application of their contributions to
that fund.
"I am informed that you have charge of the moneys collected for
that association, and that you are to take upon yourself the princi-
pal management of its fiscal affairs, and my object in addressing you
is most- respectfully to recommend to you to ha\% nothing to do with
the custody and management of its moneys and accounts. Do- not
suppose, for a moment, that I doubt your capability of managing
such business, but my experience in the care of accounts causes me
to fear, that you, who have duties so heavy and multitudinous, could
not bestow upon such accounts the time and attention they will re-
quire— and that you would hereafter find cause to regret having
taken upon yourself so onerous and burdensome a task. It appears
to me that as large sums of money are to be raised and expended,
and years required to complete the Imdertaking, the accounts will
become ultimately more or less- complex,' and if they be not kept
systematically, error and confusion will creep in, and cause trouble
and perhaps chagrin. My fears of inaccurate accounts are based
upon the belief that few men, no matter what their intelligence and
and education, who have not been brought up to business, can make
accounts intelligible to others ; and I would least expect to find m
our ministry the necessary intimate acquaintance with the details
of business 'operations. I am urged to address you by my desire
to see you retain the esteem and affection of the whole Catholic
population — that upanimous popularity you have deservedly won
and so wisely use ; and to see you ever remain free from imputations
Or suspicions of error.
"Permit me to repeat that I would most respectfully suggest the
propriety of having the treasurer's accounts of that association under
the care of a practical accountant.
"I am aware that in addressing you anonymously I adopt a very
unpopular and suspicious mode, but as I have not the pleasure of
being personally known to you, and have no right to expect that you
would complacently receive oral counsel from a stranger — if I had
arrogance so to give it, — I choose this method as being most conve-
nient, and trust to the honesty of my desire to promote your happiness
to shield me from any imputation or suspicion, of unworthy motives."
404 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
The foregoing letter came to me through the post-office. My
usual practice is to burn anonymous letters without reading them,
the moment I discover what they are. This one is indebted for a
different destination to the circumstance that there was no fire near
at hand.
I regard its contents as proceeding from a spirit of friendship to-
wards myself, and as deserving some notice which I cannot bring
under the eye of its author, except through the columns of your
very respectable journal. Who the writer is I do not know, and
Lave not the least curiosity to learn.
He will perhaps be surprised when I tell him that I had reflected
on all that is said in his letter, before •! broached the plan of the
association of liquidating the debt of the churches. I knew the dif-
ficulty of keeping complicated accounts, and that I am for such a
task one of the most unfit persons that could be selected. It was
precisely for this reason that I made the plan so simple. The col-
lectors of sections mark " paid," the sums which they receive. They
pay over to the pastor of the district the monthly aggregate, and
take his receipt for the amount. The superintendent of districts pays
over to me the monthly aggregate, returned to him by the collectors
in districts, and takes my receipt for the amount. The amount received
by me from the superintendents, and for which the receipts given
by me are evidence, is to be distributed every three months to the
trustees, and their receipts taken by me for the same. At the quar-
terly meeting these receipts are to be exhibited as vouchers, at every
step of the proceeding ; so that the contributor can track his money
from hand to hand, until he sees it applied to the liquidation of the
debt on the churches. N"ow, it seems to me that my part in this is
exceedingly simple, and does not at all require that I should be ac-
quainted with the arts and science of banking and of business.
But my correspondent would say — " but why not leave it to some
one else ? your ofiice is too sacred and your reputation too dear to
us, to be exposed to our suspicions and you know how apt we are to
be distrustful and uncharitable."
Yes, I know all this, and am very sorry for it. And now I will
give my reasons for having anything to do with the receiving and
disbursement of this fund. 1. I am satisfied in my own mind that
the fact of my doing so inspires the people at large with a confidence
in the safety of the money, and the ultimate success of the plan,,
which no amount of business knowledge could .inspire. 2. If I had
not done so, we should be already divided into parties, about the
person who should be Treasurer. 3. This division would mar and
destroy the success of the collection. 4. If any other person can be
named in whom the people will put the same confidence, I will most
cheerfully approve of the appointment, and put him in my stead.
5. If suspicion must be, I can bear it as well as any one else, and
better than a great many others. 6. And the reason why I am
willing to bear it is, that it is, if it exists at all, confined to so few,
and , those few so insignificant, compared with the thousands and
CIIUECH DEBT ASSOCIATIOK. 405
thousands of those who have unbounded confidence in me, that their
apprehensions do not weigh a feather in the scale of comparison.
But in all this I may be mistaken, and if the person to whom my
kind correspondent alludes will point out any one whose appoint-
ment as Treasurer, in my place, will not be an injury to the under-
taking, I shall most cheerfully allow him to assume the office.
My unknown correspondent has not reflected as much on this sub-
ject as I have — or he would understand that something more is
necessary for a Treasurer in these, time than a knowledge of 'keeping
accounts correctly. Hundreds of worthy men could be found among
us, but the difficulty would be to obtain for them that general and
unwavering confidence which the Catholics place in their Bishop, and
which is essential to the success of the " Church Debt Association."
It now only remains for me to speak of Carroll Hall. This was a
purchase which I never authorized. It was made in my absence,
but without any authority from me. To remove a difficulty connect-
ed with the purchase of it, I consented to take the transfer of it, for
the " benefit of the Catholics of New York." I did believe then,
and I believe still that it would be to their great benefit to keep that
property for uses to which it can be applied, for the imexpired term
of the lease on it — -19 years. But if they should think otherwise,
they are by no means obliged to accept of it. At a proper time
they shall have the option to accept, or not, the lease of that property.
In the meantime it stands utterly clear of, and unconnected with,
the " Church Debt Association." For the moneys that were taken
at the meetings of that association, I have given receipts to those
who collected it, and handed it over to me. This is as much as self
respect permits me to say about it. '
In fine my correspondent is mistaken in supposing that I would
not receive his suggestions because he is not acquainted A^'ith me. I
have nothing in View but the general good of the Catholic community ;
and if any one can point out an improvement in the means for attain-
ing that good, not only will I receive and hear his advice, but be
thankful to him for having offisred it. I am sorrj- then that my un-
known correspondent did not make the experiment, and save me the
time which it has taken to write these remarks, as well as you the
trouble of publishing them. I am very sincerely your obed't serv't,
>J< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop, &c.
[The meetings of the Church Debt Association were held every
month for a year, and at nearly all the meetings BishojD Hughes was
present and made short addresses, which were, however, only
imperfectly reported, therefore it is not deemed advisable to publish
them here. The last meeting was held on June l-Sth, 1842, when
Bishop Hughes stated that the business of that meeting completed
one year since the origin of the association. Its results would be
published in a general Report, which would be an evidence of what
can be done in this way. The Right Rev. Bishop alluded to the
many circumstances of the past year, disadvantageous to the result
406 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
of the experiment. He did not seem disposed to press the con
tinuanoe of the work in its present form, unless it should be generally
insisted on by the people themselves. The same end might be
obtained by each district appropriating immediately to the relief of
its own church the amount of its contributions. The success of the
present method, he said, depended on the fidelity and perseverance
with which each separate portion should accomplish its part. The
indifference of one section would chill the ardor of the other sections,
and it was through reasonable apprehensions of this, that hedid not
deem it advisable, unless urged by the general wish, to continue the
association in its present form beyond the close of the year from its
origin. He concluded his remarks by expressing his thanks to all
who had taken a zealous part in this work so essential for the relief
of the churches and the advancement of religion. The total amount
received by the association was over $20,000.]
INTRODUCTION BY THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP
HUG-HES TO MR. LIVINGSTON'S BOOK ON
"IMPUTATION."
Within the last forty years, there has been, in the public mind of
almost all Protestants nations, a growing disposition to reconsider
the grounds of the great schism of the Sixteenth century, in conse-
quence of which so many have been separated from the unity of the
Christian Church. During this period, numerous conversions to the
Catholic faith have occurred, among men high in rank and station,
and eminent in the walks of science and literature. England, the
Low Countries, Switzerland, and the different States of Protestant,
as well as Catholic Germany, have all furnished remarkable instances.
These examples, appeared, at the time, to have had no effect on tho
general feelings of the nations in which they occurred. Nevertheless,
it is almost impossible, in the good providence of God, that they
should not have had great influence in predisposing the minds of
othei-s remotely, and perhajjs without their own consciousness of
the fact, to take a more calm and sober view of the whole controversy.
The new religions had been vmdergoing the experiment of practice,
for nearly three hundred years, side by side with the ancient faith.
The results were before men's eyes ; and it required only a dispassion-
ate and sincere mind to judge of them. On the one hand, the Catho-
lics were seen held together, under the most adverse circumstances
of civil and social relations, in the universal communion of one
church. On the other side, Protestants always disagreed among
themselves. Every effort made towards attaining unity, resulted,
among them in fresh divisions. The Catholic "Church was seen
moving onward, amidst the convulsions and disorders of the times,
in the same undeviating course which had been traced out for her
from the beginning ; — the Protestants, on the other hand, exhibited
the now system of religion as resting on no permanent or iramutablo
INTEODUCTIOX TO "IMPUTATION." 40Y
basis ; but dependent on temporal circumstances, and the vicissitudes
and uncertainty of human opinion. Under the former, reason
recognized the dominion of faith in all matters of revelation ; under
the latter, reason was made the judge of faith itself; and the
practical consequences could be traced, from the wild and fitful out-
bursts of religious feelings, which marked the first days of the great
schism, especially in Germany, down to the cold and Christ-denying
speculations of its rationalism in our own times.
The individual instances, to which we have alluded, of a return to
the ancient faith, must have served as occasions for bringing these
comparative results before the minds of serious and reflecting men
of both communions. But they must have done more. The Catho-
lic religion had been represented as suited only to ages of ignorance
and mental darkness ; and this prejudice must have been confounded,
as men of the purest character, and most powerful intellects, were
seen, from time to time, passing over to Catholicism, in the full light
of the nineteenth century. Such examples, and in increasing
numbers, are witnessed from day to day. But within the last fifteen
or twenty years, the controversy between the two communions has
assumed new features, altogether favorable to Catholicity. Among
the Protestant clergy on the continent, several distinguished authors
have come forward to vindicate certain portions of ecclesiastical
history as well as the character of certain Popes, from the foul
aspersions and misrepresentations of the earlier Protestant writers.
In England, on the other hand,- the venerable dogmas of the Catholic
faith have been, to a great extent, vindicated in the writings of the
Oxford Tractarians. In both cases, it is to be remembered, that the
testimonies in favor of truth are those of adversaries ; but it is this
circumstance that gives them additional weight, on the general bear-
ing and issue of the great question. Protestants would not receive,
generally, the testimony of Catholic witnesses on these subjects; but
when some of the first men in their own ranks bear similar testimony,
the effect is calculated to shake, to its very centre, the foundation of
'.heir prejudices against the ancient faith.
Accordingly, these writers are no longer to be regarded as
individuals merely, but as leaders, representatives of whole classes ;
organs, giving utterance, with a faltering voice, to the uneasiness,
doubts, and struggles that agitate the breasts of thousands of their
Protestant countrymen. If there be one impression that has seized
on the' minds of all sects and parties, except themselves, with the
grasp of a conviction, it is, that the Oxford movement must lead its
votaries into the bosom of the Catholic Church. There is but one
Other alternative possible ; and that is, that they should abandon
the ground they have taken, retreat to the point from which they
started, and rest satisfied with the religion which the laws of their
country have prescribed for them. It is, however, a painful con-
test, between the spirit and the flesh. May Almighty God strengthen
them by his grace, to accomplish the sacrifice which will best pro-
mote his glory, and secure their own salvation.
408 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
But the social as -well as religious condition of England, at the
present time, is enough to convince wise men that the country
requires a spiritual renovation,which the barrenness of Protestantism
is incapable of producing. The moral sympathies, that should knit
and bind together all classes, have been ruptured or dissolved. The
wealthy aristocracy, the poor, and the middle classes, which should
blend into each other at a thousand points of social and religious
contact, are as distinct and separate, except in the material relations
of self-interest, as the castes of Hindooism. Pauperism, unknown
in that country during Catholic times, is now universal throughout
the land. Tl^e domains of the monasteries, and of the Church, were
formerly the patrimony of the poor, of which the monks and clergy
were as" the administrators for their benefit ; now these domains
belong to the princes of Protestantism ; and for the poor, work-houses
have been constructed from the ruins of the abbeys. In Catholic
times, the clergy, by their state of voluntary celibacy, left the
resources of the poor almost undiminished; now, the whole church-
livings are hardly sufficient for the extravagant modes of life and
domestic ambitions of tho married clergy. The extent of ignorance
among the working classes, respecting the first principles of Chi'is-
tianity, would be incredible were it not attested by Reports of
Parliamentary Committees. So that whether you regard the gilded
corruptions of excessive wealth on the one side, or the squalid
depravities of extreme destitution on the other ; or contemplate the
ignorance of religion, the infidelity, and desperate confederations of
those who occupy tho middle ground between them, it will appear
evident, that the regeneration of such a people, even under the
social aspect, requires the presence and the action of a religion
which can infuse into its masses the warmth and vitality of the
Christian virtues reduced into daily practice.
In alluding to these things as betraying, to the eyes of discerning
Protestants themselves, the evidence of a moral and religious want,
which the established church is obviously, through its own intrinsic
deficiency, unqualified to supply, we would by no means present
them as the only, or even a prominent cause, of the general move-
ment which is now going on in England, in the direction of a return
to the Catholic faith. No ; we would rather believe, humbly, that
the progress of this movement is directed through the operation of
that Grace which is invoked by the united prayer of millions, for the
conversion of the English nation. But neither is it to be forgotten,
that God, in his designs of mercy, may make use of outward things
as well as interior con\ictions, to hasten the period of their accom-
plishment. He must be but a superficial reader of things, who does
not see, in the actual condition of England, what a powerful vindica-
tion of the Catholic faith, has been wrought out by the silent progress
of human events — and what a deep stamp of failure has been fixed
on Protestantism, as a social and religious experiment, by the same
unspeaking, but intelligible test. It can hardly be supposed, that
it was the mere learning or piety of the Oxford divines, that has
INTEODUCTIOK TO "IMPUTATION." 409
won for their views the sympathy and approbation of high secular
powers in the state. Statesmen, no less than theologians, have
advocated, and continue to advocate their views; and although
these views do not yet avow the adoption of the whole Catholic
truth, still, they are manifestly adverse to the essential principles of
the entire Protestant system. Now, it is worthy of remark, that in
every defence of these views which they have deemed it expedient to
put forth, the moral and social, as well as religious condition of the
country, entered into their grounds of justification. Indeed, so
much is the case,' that it is avowed in the brief title prefixed to the
writings by which they have become so celebrated, " Teacts foe
THE Times."
It is remarkable, under this view of the subject, that the Oxford
divines should have overlooked the matter which is treated of in
the following pages. Among all the errors owing their birth to the
innoTOtions of the sixteenth century, there is not one so subtle as that
which the Reformers adopted on the subject of justification by faith
alone. It lies at the root of the whole system of Protestantism. It
pervades, with but little modification, the doctrines of all the various
sects, comprised under that comprehensive term. To it may be
traced the peculiar and distinctive moral, as well as social features,
that characterize every community or nation in which it has pre-
vailed. It has chilled every generous emotion of self-sacrifice, and
Christian heroism, which the charities of the Christian religion are
wont to excite in the human breast, and which the ancient faith
knows so well how to cherish, and ripen into the means of temporal
and eternal benedictions to the whole human race. Why is it that
Protestantism has produced no institutions for the welfare of man-
kind, which can be traced to the inward efficacy of any of its
principles, acting on the human heart and soul? no universities, no
hospitals, no churches, no asylums for the poor ? Some of all these,
it has unquestionably produced ; but there is not so much as one,
that can be traced to the inward power of any principles of Protestant-
ism operating silently and secretly in the souls of men. Human
legislation will be found to have intervened in all the Protestant
countries of Europe ; whereas those same countries had been« almost
paved with such institutions resulting from the inward operation,
without the aid of human laws, of the Catholic faith, in the hearts
of men, before Protestantism began. Why has the latter system
never produced a Xavier, an order for the redemption of captives, a
Vincent of Paul, or even a Sister of Charity ? No one could fill
the place of either of these, without being prepared to ofier himself
a daily sacrifice, or if need be, once for all, for the good of his
neighbor, which is only the second part of the Loed's command-
ment, carried to its point of heroism ; and why is it that Protestant-
ism has never been able to inspire this heroism into a single
member of its communion ? Who has ever heard even of a Protest-
ant Sister of Charity ?
We know, indeed, that such works have a place in the theory of
410 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
the Protestant systern; bnt in that theory itself, their_ sphere ia
restricted ; within it, too, they are controlled by an arbitrary rule
of divine economy ; and even then, they are pronounced utterly
unprofitable to'the soul of him who performs them ! How, then, ca,n
the Tractarians realize, in the Anglican communion, so long as this
doctrine is not i-epudiated, those practical results which religion,
operating internally on the hearts of men, is constantly producing in
Cath&lic lands? Do men gather figs of thorns, or grapes of thistles?
Still, it must be admitted, that the idea of justification by faith
alone, us it presents itself to minds trained up in the Protestant
system is plausible and seductive. As this subject, however, is
seldom treated of in a popular way, it may be well to give a brief
statement of the question and a definition of the terms involved in it.
" Justification" is that action or operation of divine grace on the
soul, by which a man passes from the state of sin ; from an enemy,
becomes the friend of God, agreeable in the divine sight, an4 an
heir to eternal life. This act of transition from the one state to the
other, with its operating causes, is called "justification." From the
circumstance of its being a spiritual and interior operation, it is
evident that it affords an opportunity for theological subtleties, to
those who would make use of it ; and at the same time, renders it
difficult to expose the error which those subtleties may be employed
to foster. The Church, therefore, has always preserved her ancient
and orthodox teaching under the form of sound words — which
heresy has ever betrayed itself by refusing to adopt.
Thus, in both communions, justification is acknowledged to be, as
to its efficient source, from and through and by Jesijs Christ, alone.
But in the Catholic system, this justification, occurring in the modes
of the Saviour's appointment, is not only the imputation, but also
in the interior application of the justice of Christ, by which guilt is
destroyed, pardon bestowed, and the soul replenished by the inherent
grace and charity of the Holy Spirit.
According to the Protestant principle, justification is when a man
believes with a firm and certain faith or conviction, in his own mind,
that the justice of Christ is " imputed" to him. This is that "faith
alone," fey wliioh they profess to be saved. The sacraments, for them,
have no other end or efficacy, except as signs to awaken this
individual and personal faith, so called, and as tokens of communion.
Neither Is it, that any intrinsic or interior operation takes place in
the soul, by this, in which she is changed by a transition from the
state of sin, now remitted and destroyed, to a state of justice
wrought for her and in her, by the application of the merits and
infusion of the grace of Christ. JSTo ; this is the Catholic doctrine.
But, according to the Protestant principle, no such change takes
place. According to that principle, the impious man is not made
just, even by the adoption of God, or the merits of Christ. But
leaving him in his injustice, it is conceived that his sins are no longer
imputed to him, but that the justice of Christ is imputed to him.
Thus a criminal is under guilt and condemnation ; but in considera-
INTEODUCTIOjST to " IMPUTATIOSr." 411
tion of a powerful and innocent intercessor, the chief magistrate
pardons him. It is only by a certain fiction of thought and language
that such a person can be considered innocent ; or that his intrinsic
guilt can be conceived of as still existing, but as imputed to the one
who interceded for him, and the justice of that intercessor imputed
to him. Such is the exact likeness of justification as taught in the
theology of Protestantism. But it is to be observed, that the sphere
■which is assigned as the seat of this species of fiction, is the mind
of God himself! The sinner is not intrinsically, or really justified,
in this system, but we are told that God, on account of the merits
of Christ, is pleased to regard and " repute" him as such ; that is,
God " reputes" him to be, what, in reality, He knows him not to be !
St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, speaks of the faith of
Abraham as having been reputed to him unto justice. And Luther,
to meet the exigencies of his case, seized on the letter of this passage,
and distorted its spirit and meaning. God had made rich promises
to Abraham and his posterity. The hope of this promise was in his
son Isaac. And God, to try the faith of his servant, directed
Abraham to immolate this, his only son, as a sacrifice to his name.
Such an order, under such circumstances, was calculated to throw
deep and impenetrable mystery over the previous promises, treasured
up in the mind of the patriarch. Nevertheless, he falters not in
his confidence, but obeys without a moment's hesitation. He sinks
all the apprehensions arising from the suggestions of flesh and blood,
and in the simplicity of his confidence, prepares to execute what had
been commanded. And it is only when his hand is uplifted to strike,
that God manifests his acceptance of the will, which, however, em-
braced the work itself, that he is no longer permitted to execute.
Such was the faith of Abraham. But it is evident that it embraced
the works, and that so far as obedience, will, intention, purpose, and
even feelings, were concerned, Abraham had already completed the
sacrifice. This, the same Apostle writes in the Epistle to the He-
brews, ii. ll. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered Isaac ;
and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son."
As, however, the outward immolation was not actually or
physically consummated, Luther was pleased to exclude it altogether
from the faith of Abraham, contrary to the express words of St.
Paul himself. The error of Luther has been incorporated, -yith but
slight modifications, into the theology of all the other Protestant
denominations. Hence the doctrine of salvation by " faith alone."
By faith, to use their own phraseology, the sinner " seizes" on the
merits of Christ — by believing firmly that they are " imputed" to
him. It is not that by this, he is made just or innocent, but God is
pleased to declare, to suppose, to repute — let us say it with reverence
— to imagine him as such. It is all God's work, he has not the
smallest share in it — and then, the seductive boast of the system,
that thus, " all the glory returns to God, and nothing to man."
Under the same plea, good works were decried as hindrances, rather
than helps, in the matter of justification. It' was supposed, indeed,
412 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
that by a necessary consequence, they would appear in the life of
the believer, as the fruit and evidence of his faith. But, even then,
they could be of no advantage to the soul. Neither could sin, except
that of unbelief alone, defeat its salvation. To such a point of
of insanity did Luther carry his doctrine on this subject, that he
declares, that " if adultery could be committed in faith, it would not
be a sin." " Si in fide fieri posset adulterium, peccatum non asset." —
Luth. Bispui. t. 1, b. 523.
This doctrine is the root of all those distinctive features of Pro-
testantism, which place its moral, as well as dogmatical code, so
much in opposition to the ancient teaching of Christendom, and of
the Catholic world. Calvin moulded it into his own system of
Election, Predestination, Reprobation, and Inamissible Grace. The
different confessions of faith have mitigated somewhat the harshness
of language with which it was first set forth in the writings of the
two great Continental Reformers. But its substance pervades them
all. The extent to which it has prevailed in the ^nglican Church,
which is supposed to have departed least from the ancient faith, will
appear in the little work which is now presented to the public. And
humanly speaking, there is no hope for the Protestant world, even
through the piety and learning that are represented by the Oxford
divines, until they themselves shall have burst through the intricate
and subtle meshes of this elaborate net of primitive Protestantism.
They seem to repine at not beholding among themselves those fruits
of religion, which they witness among their CathoUc neighbors. But
how could they expect it, while they teach that man's righteousness
is solely by the mere imputation of the righteousness of Christ — and
that this imputation is by/at7A aloxe, to the utter exclusion of good
works, either before or after justification ? Do they not see that
this system leaves them no ground whereon to place the fulcrum, or
apply the lever of either a moral, religious, or social regeneration ?
We would not be understood by these remarks, to assert or
insinuate, that the moral virtues are not attended to in the practice
of Protestant communities as well as elsewhere. Far from it. But
it is seldom that the conduct of men is in strict consistency with
their creed, and in the present instance it is well known, that Catho-
lics living up to the, principles of their holy faith, would be infinitely
better than they are ; Protestants, on the same grounds, would be
immeasurably worse.
In the Catholic Church, every age witnessed the spectacle of
thousands of individuals rising by the power of Grace, above the
ordinary range of righteous living, and devoting themselves by a
perpetual sacrifice of all that is selfish, for the good of their neighbor ;
and this for God's sake. Protestantism, after three hundred years of
existence, cannot point out even one such example ! Why is it ? I^ow,
the true type of the faith and the grace of the Catholic religion, is
to be found in those higher examples to which we have just referred,
— whilst, if you seek a corresponding type, something that will
exemplify the essence of Protestantism, you must be satisfied with
.ii u
INTEODtrCTIC N TO "IMPUTATION." 413
the concentration of it in the coarse uncharitableness and unchristian
exhibitions of it in Exeter Hal], and in kindred assemblies on this
side of the Atlantic. It is true, and honorable as true, that the vast
majority of Protestants, in both countries, look upon such exhibitions
■with regret, and virtuous indignation ; but it is not less true, that
for this, the genuine interpreters of thfeir creed, regard, and denounce
them as only half Protestants, and half " Papists." There is more
of truth in this uncourteous statement than either side is aware of.
Truth, and charity, and meekness, and patience, and all good works,
are contemplated as implied conditions of justification in the Catho-
lic system ; whilst they ai-e as implicitly discarded from the Protest-
ant justification, except, indeed, as consequences which, it is sup-
posed,must necessarily follow.
But the stumbling-block, with many, is the idea that according
to the Catholic doctrine, man is himself the author, in part, at least,
of his own justification, through the supposed efficacy of good works,
and human meri^ ; and that thus Christ is robbed of the glory
which belongs solely to Him. Having stated briefly the Protestant
doctrine, we shall now exhibit, with equal brevity, the Catholic
teaching on the subject of justification.
■ The Catholic Church teaches, also, that Christ is alone the author
and finisher of our salvation — that of ourselves we can do nothing
without his grace — that all grace is the pure gift of God — that to
Him belongs the whole and undivided glory. This is the faith of the
Catholic Church. But from thispoint the two systems begin to diverge.
Supposing the existence Of faith in the soul, which is regarded in
the Catholic system as the "root of our justification," God imparts
additional grace, by which it is increased and developed into the
tree of a holy life, laden with its proper fruits of Christian charity.
The operation of this grace is in the soul itself, renovating its powers,
impaired and decayed as they had been by the contagion of original
and actual sin. The sacraments are appointed channels by which
i Christ communicates this grace, and applies now, individually, to
those who receive it, the merits of its own infinite sacrifice, once
offered up on the Cross. He may communicate grace otherwise
than by the sacraments, but however communicated He is its source
and author. One of the efifects of this grace, is to enable the soul
to co-operate with the inspirations which it communicates. Thus it
disposes itself to receive further aid from heaven ; and being still
faithful in its correspondence with the new grace, it goes on in a pro.
gress of holiness, by which it approaches nearer and nearer to the
perfect and adorable Author of its being.
• In; all this, what are termed good works, must necessarily enter.
Sin must be avoided ; for sin would displease God, and destroy his
grace in the soul. Charity, the love of God, becomes the impulse by
which such a soul is actuated. She will endeavor to keep the com-
mandments, for this is given as the* test of love. ISTayj more, she
'will sometimes, for his sake, resolve on the sacrifice which is always
necessary in order to accomplish those things whiph He has counseled,
414 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES.
—•without having reduced them to the rigor of a universal precept.
She will sell all that she has, and give it to the poor, in order to have
treasures in heaven. Here the Catholic doctrine of the " merit of
good works," comes in. Is it, that according to our faith anything
that man can do, even with the aid of grace, creates a right in virtue
of which he may claim a recompense from God ? Certainly not. Is
it that any works of his can enter, as a portion, into the price by
which he was redeemed ? By no means. Nevertheless, the Church
teaches, founding her doctrine on the express word of God, and
the excess of his goodness and mercy, that He himself bestows on
works thus performed through his grace, for his sake, and his love,
a merit which He will recompense with eternal rewards. But are
these rewards on account of any instrinsic merit in the actions them-
selves as the mere works of men ? Surely not. Long before Luther
began to pervert the writings of St. Paul, St. Augustine declared in
two words what had ever been, and still is, and ever will be, the
faith of the Church on the subject, viz.: God in rewarding his saints,
but crowns in them the effect of his own grace. Where, then, is
there room for that calumny which the radical error of the sixteenth
century put forth against the Church of God, viz.: that she robbed
Christ of his glory in the justification of sinners, by making it partly
the work of man himself? This calumny is still propagated, and by
it thousands are prevented from returning to the fold of Christ.
We have exemplified the Protestant doctrine of justification by a
human comparison ; we shall endeavor to represent the Catholic
tenet by another.
A man gives capital for trade to a number of persons who are
utterly penniless and starving — more to one, less to another. He
places them in a sphere of commerce, in which, if they are attentive,
industrious, and prudent, they will acquire much wealth ; but in
such a way, that the measure of the increase is also owing to the
goodness of him who gave the original cajjital. In this,^two things
concur to the same end — his liberality, and their co-operation ; but can
they glory on this Account, as if their fortune was owing to them-
selves, or their works ? Certainly not ; and yet the same goodness
of their patron, may induce him to reward, as merit in them, that
industry with which they employed his money. And what is this,
after all, but the lesson of our Lord's teaching in the paTable of
the talents — and for the proper use of which it was said, " Well
done, thou good and faithful servant, iecoMse thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will set thee over many ; enter into the joy of
the Lord."
This is the doctrine of justification, as taught in the Catholic
Church ; the grace of Christ, which is his gift, is the capital,
renovating the powers of the soul, and enabling her to enter into
the commerce of charity, which has God and the neighbor for its
objects, and by which " treasift-es," in the language of Scripture, may
be laid up in heaven. See how this commerce has been carried on
in the Church from the beginning ! See the apostles, the martyrs,
OI-IUECH DEBT ASSOCIATIOIT. 415
the confessors, the virgins, the missionaries, the teachers of the
ignorant, the friends of the poor, of the sick, of the captives, ever
buriers of the dead, give up the world, renounce their own ease,
embrace voluntarily the mortifications of the Cross, and by a
perpetual sacrifice of self, become the living, and, not unfrequently,
the expiring victims of their love for their fellow beings, and of Him
who died for all ! The world has always been full of wickedness,
and always will be ; but, notwithstanding this, amidst ilS social con-
N'ulsions, and its hereditary corruptions, see, how in every age since
the beginning of Christianity, men rose and girded themseUes up
for Christ's sake, to battle in the armor of faith, and with the wea-
pons of holy charity, against the peculiar disorders of the times.
The infidel corsah- sweeps the sea, carrying Christians into slavery.
But the grace of Christ has inspired other Christians with the heroism
of charity, by which they bind themselves in a solemn vow, to seek
the captive in a barbarous land, to redeem him with money, or, if
need be, to take on their own limbs the chains of bondage which
they have stricken from his ! Plague and pestilence are desolating
the land, and thousands of delicate and tender virgins are ready to
rush into th^ atmosphere of death, and ministering at the bed-side
of the sick and dying, occupy the place which' the cowardice of mere
flesh and blood had caused even relatives to abandon ! But all this,
again, is through Christ, who inspires this supernatural courage,
and crowns as merit in the members of his mystical body, the fruits
of his own grace. Now, if such things occur at all times, and in
all places of the Catholic Church ; and if, on the other hand, the
world has yet to witness the first example of them in the Protestant
communities, does it not follow that there is, there must be, some
deep and radical cause to account for the difference ? Unquestionably,
there is. The Protestant dogma of a forensic imputation of the
merits of Christ, and of justification by " faith alone," explains it
all. No other key is necessary.
It is not pretended that in the ordinary virtues of social and
domestic life, Protestants are inferior to any others. Still, even
these, it is manifest, derive no support from their doctrine of justifi-
cation, and must be accounted for on other grounds. But above
the range of cvery-day duties, performed in a genteel and respect-
able manner, where is there a name that stands prominent on the
page of self sacrifice for the good of others ? We have sometimes
heard the names of Howard and Wilberforce mentioned as instances.
They, certainly, especially the former, were above the ordinary
standard in the reformed ranks ; but yet how immeasurably below
any cQrresponding type in the Catholic church ! The one visited
the institutions for erring and sufiering, or destitute humanity,
which had been founded by the spontaneous charity of Catholic
lands, or the civil laws of Protestants states — and recorded the
reflections of his mind, and the sympathies of his benevolent heart.
Even this was much. The other poured out his eloquence, and his
gold, if you please, to meliorate the condition of an atflicted-portion
416 AECHBISHOP HUGflES.
of Ms fellow men.. But neither of them showed anything like a
willingness to undergo themselves, for their Maker's sake, a portion
of the sufferings they would mitigate or remove.
The Oxford school is the only one in the history of Protestantism
that seems to have caught a ray of the light and warmth of Catholic
faith on the subject of justification. Neither is this so manifest in
what are called their principles, as in the tone of a deej5er spirituality,
piety, meekness, and a desire tc foster more the love of God, and of
man. These feelings appear under the surface of their writings as
if struggling for an issue, and a right direction. Hence the innova-
tions with which they are charged. Fasting, confession, and most
of the practical devotions of the Catholic Church, are reported to
have found favor in their sight. But, alas ! so long as the funda-
mental error of the Anglican system on justification remains, what
practical progress can they make with the massesx)f their people ? It
is said they would establish Protestant monasteries ; but who will
be. the monks ? That they would have daily service in their churches ;
but who will attend the worship, except a few devout females whose
hearts unconsciously obey the instinct of that Catholic faith against
which their understandings have been so perversely instructed ? That
they would rid the churches of pews, so that, as in Catholic times,
the rich and poor may worship together; but do they imagine that
the haughty lords of England, who, fenced round in their exclusive
boxes, will hardly kneel before their Maker, albeit they are tempted
by soft and velvet cushions to do so, — will mingle in any direct con-
tact of equality with the poor? No,- no! such results cannot be
anticipated, so long as both are tauglit to believe that justification is
by " faith alone." But going beyond the precincts of the temple,
how will the Oxford divines be able to infuse into the Anglican
system any principle of spiritual fruitfulness, whilst this tenet
prevails ? How will they go forth to their rich and proud country-
men, preaching, like St. Paul, the '■ chastisement of the body," and .
the " crucifixion of the flesh ?" How will they meet the dark, sour
discontent, of religious, as well as civil chartism, in the millions of
their countrymen, with the words of the Saviour Himself, " Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." How will
they reduce to the simplicity of faith, and the obedience of Christ,
the spiritual haughtiness and double-dealing of their middle classes?
How, in a word, can they renovate their church, or distill a healing
balm into any of the wounds, religious, moral, social, or physical,
of their sufiering land, so long as they and their countrymen remain
alike paralyzed by the frozen grasp of the fundamental error of their
system to which we have alluded ? They may, indeed, preach and
write with the force and eloquence, and even unction of a Chrys-
ostom or a Paul, but yet so long as the present system of the
Anglican Church remains, their words will return on them as feathers
cast against the wind. Still, however, all these things are in the
hands of God — who can employ the things that are not, to confound
the things that are.
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL POWEE. 417
LECTURE BY THE RT. REV. BISHOP HUG-HES ON
"THE MIXTURE OF CIVIL AND ECCLESIAS-
TICAL POWER IN THE MIDDLE AGES,"
DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 18, 1843,
ON BEHALF OF THE IRISH EMIGRANT SOCIETY.
One of the largest and most intelligent audiences ever collected
within the walls of any public building in this city, assembled in
the Tabernacle to hear the Lecture of the Bishop. Some time
before the hour speoiiied in the advertisements, every seat in the
house was taken up, and by the time the Lecture commenced the
standing places on the floor and galleries were occupied in like man-
ner. Probably no lecture ever before delivered in New York was
so well attended, there must have been at least 3,500 persons present.
On the platform, and among the audience wfre several of the leading
divines of the Episcopalian and other Protestant denominations.
At half-past 7 o'clock precisely, the President of the Irish Emigrant
Society, Robert Hogan, Esq., made a few introductory remarks.
_ When at length the applause had subsided the Bishop commenced
his lecture as follows :
The mixture of Civil and Ecclesiastical power in the Govern-
ments of the Middle Ages — in other words, a blending or union of
Church and State — a theme which has extended over the whole of
Christendom, for the last 1400 years ; a theme having its origin at
the vety root of modern States ; which has grown up with their
growth ; which has, it must be confessed, produced much of the
improvement that distinguishes the legislation of Christian coun-
tries ; — but a theme, also, in the use or abuse of which tears and
blood have been m.ade to flow in mingled torrents.
A hundred folio volumes would not be sufficient to develop the
origin and history, to analyze the connections and philosophy, to
detail the benefits, aijd to point out the evils, which have resulted
from this system. How, then, shall I be able to compress any
adequate idea of it, into the lecture of a single hour ? Success is
more than I can promise ; but I shall make the attempt, notwith-
standing. •
The reproach of having first sanctioned, or tolerated, this union of
Civil and Ecclesiastical authority, in the government of mankind, is
laid at the door of the Catholic Church. And some persons may
suppose, that, for a Catholic Bishop to treat a question in which his
Church and his order are so deeply implicated, is at once a bold and
delicate undertaking. I have not myself any such feeling on the
subject. First, because it is the genius of that Church to conceal
nothing of her doctrines or of her history ; since the scandals, as
well as the good, which have marked her progress in the world, are
woven up in the annals of her history, by her own best Writers,
27
418 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. ^
with the same impartial fidelity. And, secondly, I have no such
feelings, because admitting that the CathoJic Church was the _first to
tolerate or sanction such a union, I do not know the name of any
Protestant, or other Christian denomination, that has hitherto
practically discovered the error and repudiated the connection. As
regards denominations, therefore, if this be a sin, we have all sinned
alike. The doctrine is maintained with more dark and desperate
determination in Russia, than it is in Italy. It finds more numerous,
more obstinate, and, I will add, more able advocates, both among
Statesmen and Churchmen, in England, than it does in Austria. It
is cherished with as unrelenting a tenacity in Holland, in Sweden,
aud Prussia — indeed in all the Protestant States of Europe — as it
is, or ever was, in any Catholic State. In fine, to show what a
powerful hold this doctrine, as a principle, seems to have on the
human mind, I may mention, that, while the majority of the clergy
and people of Scotland go out from the Church-and-State dependen-
cies, on a matter of fact, still they maintain the rightfulness of the
union, as a true, and indisputable principle. If, therefore, this is the
condition of Christendom in the meridian light and high civilization
of the nineteenth century, there is no reason to blush for the Catho-
lic faith, for having tolerated, or approved of the principle, in the
rude and uncivilized condition of mankind in former ages. It is
supposed, however, that such a union is a necessary doctrine of the
Catholic Church. This is utterly false. It is no more a doctrine of
the Catholic Church, than the destruction of the old Roman Empire
— or the incursions of the barbarians, by which its fall was precipi-
tated. It is simply a historical accident, in the annals of the Catho-
lic Church. It happened so ; but if Providence had arranged the
outward affairs of the world differently, it would have happened
otherwise.
I have said, that to this rule of union between Church and State,
-there is one — and only one — exception. This may surprise some of
my hearers ; but you may take the history of the whole human
race, in all times, in all nations, under all forms of government, and
wherever you find men living under any social organization, there
you will find the Church and State united : — save and except the
United States of America. That union, or, at least, the spirit of it,
had been imported into these colonies, while they were in subjection
to the English Government? It had been planted, had taken root,
and had already yielded its bitter and bloody fruit, even in this
virgin hemisphere. England withheld from these colonies those
privileges of civil liberty, of which her people were so jealous at
home. This led to resistance ; resistance led to strife ; and in the
ranks of strife, men forgot their religious differences ; Catholics and
Protestants of every denomination stood shoulder to shoulder, until
British authority was totally annihilated within their boundaries.
Here, then, was an interruption of all hereditary legislation, the link
of connection, in the whole social organization,' had been broken ;
and a Hew State was to be formed, happily, at a period when civiliza-
I.ECTUEK ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 419
tion was in a high state of advancement ! The same men who had
achieved the independence of the countiy, were equal to the task
of forming a Constitution for its government ; and the wisdom of
that Constitution is as just a subject for our admiration, as the valor
by which the right to make it had been won. It was framed for
the government and guidance of a free people, who claimed to be
free in thpir civil rights and opinions. It was framed to secure, at
once, order and equality of rights ; and, considering the purpose
which it was intended to accomplish, I regard the Constitution of
the United States as a monument of wisdom, — an instrument of
liberty and right, unequaled — unrivaled — in the annals of the
human race. Every separate provision of that immortal document
is stamped with the features of wisdom ; and yet among its wise
provisions, what I regard as the wisest of all, is the brief, simple, but
comprehensive declaration, that, " Congress shall make no law
RESPECTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OP RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE
FREE EXERCISE THEREOF.
This event — forming an epoch in the history of Governments-
took place more than half a century ago. It has hitherto found no
imitators, among either the Protestant or Catholic States of the
world ; and the only nations that have hitherto followed the example
even by . the approach of remote imitations, are Belgium and
France.
The subject on which I have to speak, is obviously too ample to
permit that I should enter either into detail, or indulge in the critical
Isusiness of citing historical authorities. In truth, it is rather the
spirit and the philosophy of history, in regard to my subject, that
must engage attention', but, at the same time, I would not have it
to be imagined that I am abyut to draw a picture of fancy. On the
contrary, I hold myself responsible for the historical correctness of
what I shall advance, and am prepared with dates and facts, and
special authorities from cotemporary historians, whenever it may be
necessary to use them.
There is another remark, also, which it is important to keep in
view, in considering the subject ; and this is, that, in examining, any
complex historical question — especially a question which is connect-
ed with the development of civilization — we should not read the
subject backward. If we were to ridicule or criticize Columbus and
his associates, for not having made the discovery of America in
steamers, this would be what I call reading history backward. His
gallant little squadron was composed of almost open boats ; and if
he had not been able to accomplish such a discovery, even so, it is
quite probable that the ocean would never havo felt the power of
steam.
There is an infancy, a growth, and development of the public
mind, analogous to that of the individual understanding, with this
diiference, that; in nations, the progress counts by centuries, which,
in individuals, is numbered by years. To judge the past by the
the present, therefore, is absurd. The benefit of studying history at
420 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
all, consists in the wisdom wMch may be gleaned from it — and tlie
wisdom can only result from the truth which it furnishes-^and the
truth can be discovered only by studying it in the proper manner.
In fact, there is another great difference between the individual and
public mind. The former is trained up by other minds, already
ripened ; but the latter has no senior tutor. The aggregate mind,
in its largest sense, moves forward on the mysterious point, dividing
two eternities — the past and the future. It has a certain measure of
experience — a certain general idea of the ground over which it has
travelled ; but of its direction or tendency, id reference to the future,
all is, at all given times, uncertain and unknown. There is a
mysterious veil, at all times, hanging over the future, which moves
onward in exact keeping with the advance of the present, so that-
men may preserve a vague recollection of what has happened j but
no man is able to tell, with certainty, what is to come. Thus, look-
ing back at the history of civilization, we can now discover that
society has made many a curve, and many a pause, while those of
whom it was composed imagined themselves to be always in motion,
and always moving on a straight line. We suppose this to be the
case in our own regard ; but it is quite possible that the five-and-
twentieth century, looking back to the nineteenth, will perceive how
divergent from the straight line were the leading impulses and
directions of our age. In fact, the public mind, in its progress, is
like the course of a vessel at sea. It is obliged to tack on the one
side, and on the other, sometimes even to recede, by the force of
circumstances over which the pilot can have no control. To judge
of its action at any given time of history, we ought to assimilate
our own mind to the condition of the public mind, at such a period.
We ought to forget, if possible, the experience which has been, since
then, acquired ; but taking our stand at the origin of any historical
question, to travel downward with the current of its development,
instead of absurdly rowing our shallow boat of criticism against its
mighty stream.
The first period of the Christian Church was a period in which
she knew the State only as the source of her sufferings and her
triumphs. Almost all her pontiffs, from St. Peter downward, during
three hundred years, sealed their mission by a glorious martyrdom.
Her missionaries had extended themselves throughout the length
and breadth of the Roman empire. They had penetrated countries
wbere the Roman eagles had never been known or heard of Her
converts were numerous in all the provinces — in the capitol — ^in the
army — in the Senate — and even in the houses of the Caesars them-
selves. Still, the frown of the State was upon her; and to escape
it she found a hiding-place in the catacombs of Rome. If she met
the State at all, it was only at the tribunal of some consul or gover-
nor— or on the scaffold, to witness the triumph of some glorious
member of her body, against whom the sword of the State was up-
lifted, for no other crime save that of belief in Jesus of Nazareth
At length, Cpnstantine is triumphant over his rivals and his enemy.
LEOTUKE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 421
He embraces the Christian religion ; and the Cross, whioh had
hitherto been the emblem of all that is vile, is now set in the
imperial diadem as the most precious of its ornaments, and the
most expressive type of its duties. The condition of the world,
even the civilized world of the Roman empire, was lamentable in
the extreme ; and, miless it should be derived /row the Cross, there
was no hope of its renovation. Every department of society was
depraved, not only by the natural depravity of man's heart, but that
depravity itself was incorporated in almost all the legal and social
institutions of the degenerate times. In the family^ the father alone
was under the protection of the law ; the wife, the children, the
slaves — or rather ' all were then slaves — had no protection beyond
the caprice of the husband, the father, and the master. His ordei'
was enough to consign these, or any of them, even to public
prostitution ; against which,' neither the laws of the empire, nor
the morality of Paganism, opposed a barrier. Now, to allow, thus,
disorder and corruption in the family, was to vitiate and corrupt
the whole of society in its very root. Hence, the public crimes
which history has recorded of that age, and those immediately
preceding.
The people plundered by every petty officer of the government—
the oppression and impotence of the rural and provincial popula-
tions— the licentious and unpunished conduct of the Roman soldiers
— the debaucheries and cruelties of the imperial court, and all con-
nected with it, present a picture which causes the heart to sicken at
the condition of humanity at that period — the setting sun of old
Roman civilization. As one fact, to give an idea of the times, I
will mention that, during the hundred years which preceded the
age of Constantine, the average reign of each emperor was but
two and a half years ; that, out of forty emperors, more than one-
half had perished by a death of violence ; that the Praetorian
Guards and their prefect had put up the throne of the great empire,
at public auction, to the highest bidder ; and that the purchaser
had scarcely time to wear off the novelty of his elevation, when he
was murdered to create an opportunity for a new sale. Constan-
tine moved the seat of empire to Byzantium, now Constantinople.
His successors in the empire, with a few exceptions, fell infinitely
below him in every attribute of talent, capacity, and virtuous great-
ness. Of his successors, it is sufficient to say, in generkl, that, with
some few exceptions, they were lost in luxury and effeminacy ;
showing always a greater disposition to meddle in the metaphysics
of theological disputation, than either to govern or defend their
empire, according to the better morals of the law they professed.
There is not a single dispute of the subsequent ages, in which they
did not interpose their sovereign will, on one side or on the other.
By joining with the Iconocl.asts, or image-breakers of the eighth
century, they prepared the way for the Greek schism; and the
Greek schism, in its turn, prepared the way for their utter annihi-
lation, by wrenching from their feeble hands, to be transferred to
422 ARCHBISHOP 'hughes.
the disciples of Mahcyiiet, that sceptre, of which they were un-
worthy. When such weakness and such imbecility were at the
head and heart of the Imperial Government, the events which oc-
curred throughout its extremities .ceased to be surprising. The
oarbarians of every name, and of no name, from the East and
North of Europe, from the shores of the Baltic and the interior of
Tartary, rushed into the empire, as if by concert, and inundated it
with their savage and ferocious habits. Huns, Burgandians, Goths,
and Vandals, all came in mingled confusion, to take possession of
the undefended TDrovinces, as of a rich but abandoned prey. Not
by a single irruption — though even that would have been sufficient
to extinguish the feeble remains of Roman institutions ; but, wave
after wave, from this inexhaustible ocean of ignorance and barba-
rism, rushed with destructive fui-y over the length and breadth of
the Roman empire.
It would be wrong to say, that they had not brought with them
certain rude elements, from which a future civilization might, under
a propitious culture, be matured, and ripen. But their code of
police was suited rather to the common good, in their common con-
dition of a banditti of robbers, than to any state of settled, peace-
able, and social life. The type of the ci\'ilization which they came
to overthrow and extinguish was, in their mind, with all its develop-
ments and accidents, a type of effeminacy, which they held in the
most sovereign and unutterable contempt. Of this type, they
looked upon Roman legislation, Roman 'habits, architecture, books,
learning, arts and sciences, as the pernicious offspring. Hence, they
regarded them as things to be destroyed, with the same determina-
tion which had vanquished the authors of them. Lombardy, Gaul,
the southern coasts of the Mediterranean, Spain, and other portions
of Europe, the choicest of Imperial Rome, became the seat of their
ravages and future habitations. Other hordes may have come subse-
quently to disturb their residence ; but, finally, the whole remnant of
Roman government, Roman laws, and usages, and institutions, are
made to give place to the crude and barbarous habits of these igno-
rant, but warlike invaders of the North.
It A\'ould seem that, under such a catastrophe, there was no hope
for the renovation of the human mind. The only models of govern-
ment, which the ancient world had left, would seem to have :
perished.
Government and society, upon a large scale at least; must result
from the exercise of power somewhere. But here were, men, who
acknowledged no power on earth, and hardly any in heaven ; they
may be said to have had no law, but their own will ; and, it may
further be said, that it was not in their nature to submit to any
other.
Out of this chaos — not the deliberations of men, but the irresisti-
ble force of necessity, brought about, slowly, something like Civil
Government. This government is stamped with all the rude preju-
dices of those on whose will its formation depended. Privilege,
i.
LECTUEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 423
distinction, power, were supposed to be the prerogative of the bold,
the daring and the few ; submission, obedience, degradation, were
conceived as resulting from the natural distribution of things, in
reference to the weak, the timid, and the many. Hence the forma-
tion of what, at a later period, when it became better organized, is
known as the Feudal System.
In a period of social disorder, and the absence of all laws, except
the laws of physical strength, life and protection are the first neces-
sities of man. The common people, therefore, for the sake of life
and the protection of it, attached themselves to the train of chief-
tains from whom these first claims of human existence might be
expected. The chieftain was bound to provide for their subsistence
and protection. They, on their part, as an equivalent, were bound
to go to war with him ; and to fight for him, in every quarrel,
aggressive or defensive, which he might be pleased to undertake.
They were his vassals ; and he was, in the first stage, their baron
or lord ;_ afterward, when the system refined and developed itself
more, this order was extended and diversified into lords and earls,
and marquises and dukes. In this sySitem, framed in such circum-
stances, it is hardly necessary to add, that the desire of extending
their several territories, or of defending them, as it might happen —
where all claimed the right of assailing his neighbor, when he found
himself strong enough for the undertaking — must have produced
incessant warfare. Those who were barons or lords, in reference to
the vassals who were dependent on them, became themselves vassals,
in regard to others, on whom they, in turn, felt dependence. Thus,
the king might be regarded .as the /ieac? baron of the nation ; and
yet, there are instances in which even he held his fief, as if he were
a vassal to some of his own subjects. Naturally, this condition of
things, wherever it prevailed, was calculated to retard civilization.
It shows that the only thing held in high estimation was, not justice,
nor arts, nor learning, nor moral rights of any description, but a
brave heart, a strong bow, and stout arm. It is not surprising,
therefore, that Europe should have been, then, as one great univer-
sal camp of war. Every castle was a fortress — every peasant a
soldier — every baron a species of monarch, who could summon and
sound to battle, ^vhenever he pleased. The only spot that was
neutral, was the Church and its sacred precincts. Nothing can
prove this better than the institution of those times which is called,
" Treve de Dieu," or the " Peace of God." This was a rule, for-
bidding them to go to war from Wednesday evening till Monday
morning, of each week. This was the first inroad made upon the
determined martial, or rather jpredatory habits of those ages.
The first great \ariation from the monotony of interior confusion
was the Crusades. The enthusiasm which that enterprise inspired,
appears to vis like a moral contagion. Like other great events,
it produced its evil and its advantageous consequences. It tended
to destroy serfage — that species of temperate slavery which pre-
vailed in the Middle Ages. It exhausted the barons, and directed
424 ARCHBISHOP -HUeHES.
against the foreign enemy those lighting propensities which they
had hitherto indulged against each other. It enlarged the public
mind, and imbued it with some notions of navigation, commerce,
arts, and learning. After this period had passed away, literature
begins to revive ; universities are founded ; the State begins to
come out of the social relations, with features of greater distinct-
ness. Order, at least of an imperfect kind, begins to take the place
of brute force. The features of Feudalism begin to fkde away ;
and, as we rise into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we dis-
cover the public mind, as if gazing on the bright dawn of civiliza-
tion such as, unhappily, the day has not reahzed. The East Indies,
which had been lost from the map of the world during the Middle
Ages, are re-discovered by Portuguese navigators. An Italian
sailor plucks up a new hemisphere, from the untravelled waters of
the Western ocean ; printing is invented ; architecture and the
arts are all revived. Greek and Roman literature become a very
passion ; and the public mind seemed to enter upon a new career,
with a young energy, an enthusiasm, a capacity, a ripeness for im-
provements, such as the world had never seen before.
Such is a general, but imperfect outline of what Christendom
had passed thi-ough, up to the beginning of the sixteenth century.
During the course of that century, a new species of warfare inter-
rupted, as I would say (leaving to others the same right to hold a
different opinion), the onward progress of the human mind. Hith-
erto the Christian commonwealth had preserved its unity ; and if
there had been wars, they had had for their object the things of the
present world. J^ow, however, humanity is to be afflicted with
the wars respecting the world to come. The question divided
States as well as individuals ; and each took the side which its
conviction of principle, or its political interest, seemed to determine.
Since that jjeriod, the progress of the public mind has not been
proportionate to the advantages that had been acquired, and to the
time that has since elapsed.
In the hasty view which I have taken, as to the condition of the
State, during these ages, you will not suppose that I have purposed
to exhibit anything like the yeneral detail of society, or of the princi-
ples and feelings, which formed its inward and daily workings. For
it happens, in history, that the things which are least honorable to
human nature, are those which are most conspicuously displayed.
Thus, to have an idea of our own times, of the state of morality in
our country, or even in our city, future ages may have recourse to
our laws, thp records of our courts, and systems of poHce. All the
rest will have sunk away and be forgotten, or remembered only in
the institutions which private virtue shall have founded for the
relief of cotemporary destitution. Indeed, viewed in this light, the
Middle Ages will present features altogether different from those
which the truth of history, and the nature of my subject, required
me to exhibit. And as a proof of this, a distinguished English
writer has pubhshed a work on these same ages, in no less than
tECTUEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 425
eleven volumes, in which he shows clearly and with a depth and
variety of erudition that are perfectly astonishing — that every por-
tion of our blessed Saviour's sermon on the mount, was reiluced to
practice during that identical period. What, then, does the whole
prove ? Simply, that there was then, as there is now, a singular
mixture of good and evil ; with this difference, perhaps, that in the
Middle Ages, both good and evil were vigorously carried out ;
while the simplicity of those times knew none of the artifices, by
which our superior advantages enable us to conceal the latter, and
to display the former, as much as possible.
It is now time to consider the Church, descending to us, step by
step, and day by day, with that order of things in the State which
I have just attempted to describe. It is manifest, not only by reason
but also by the experience of all nations, that if moral power is to
have any place at all in the estimate of legislators, this moral power
must necessarily be founded on religion. Civil laws regulate the
external actions of men ; but religion extends to the interior work-
ings of those affections of the human heart, which precede the
outward action. Hence, too, it has been said by a philosopher,
that if religion ^vere banished from the social relations of men,
society itself would become little better than pandemonium. It is
not, then, wonderful that the Church, descending side by side with
the succession of events, in the order of things I have described,
should, by choice or by necessity, have exercised a remarkable influ-
ence on the nascent institutions of every age. She was the deposi-
tory of the Christian faith — she preserved its inspired annals, the
sacred Scriptures — she had learned from the lips of its Divine Au-
thor, the high and holy truths which it was important for mankind
to know, and which it was her special mission to preach and to pro-
pagate throughout " all nations." Her sphere of action was in the
midst of the world and among men, whatever might be the culture
or the confusion of their condition. It is time, then, to consider
what the Church is in itself, and what it was, historically, in its
connection with' the States of the Middle Ages. In itself, the
Church is essentially independent of all States, and of all forms of
government. Its true and primary office is to preach the doctrines
of our Saviour. It received direct and absolute power from Him
for that purpose. As a divinely appointed society, the Church has
the right to make laws for her Own government, and for the proper
guidance of her members, independent of any power on the earth.
If she h.as at times interfered with the civil prerogatives of tem-
poral sovereigns, her right to do so is not founded on her divine
character ; but resulted, either from the concessions of those states
themselves, or from the absolute exigency of circumstances.
It was impossible that, during the periods to which I have alluded,
the Church should not have taken a prominent i:)art in the affairs of
Christendom. This is explained by the very nature of the case.
From the very moment Constantino became a Christian, he pro-
fessed a new code of moral law, which denied him, though Emperor
426 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
of Rome, the right to do evil, either in his public or private capacity.
Every attempt which he made to reform the corrupt laws, and the
yet more corrupt administration of them, under Paganism — which
he had just renounced — naturally excited the opposition of those
who still adhered to the bloody spectacles of the Amphitheatre, and
the worship of Olympus. The new and more humane elements,
derived from the Christian religion, and infused into the ancient
legislative code, required new officers for their proper administra-
tion. These, where they could be found, were naturally taken from
among the Christians ; and certain departments were, by usage, if
not by law, consigned to the bishops of the Church. Thus the
unfortunate portions of the human race were especially placed under
their care. The case of the widow and the orphan were consigned to
their protection ; prisoners, in like manner ; the poor, the ignorant,
and the slaves. From that moment it became necessary for the civil
legislator, in abrogating old, or in enacting new laws, to consider
how far they were in accordance with the moral principles of the
Christian faith. The laws touching marriage and divorce, and oth-
ers— lying at the very root of social existence — were obviously of
this description. Hence, intercourse with the clergy, the acknowl-
edged interpreters of the Christian faith, became a necessary conse-
quence of the imperial transition from the old to the new system.
The laws which he enacted subsequently to his conversion, and
which are still found in the code of Theodosius the younger, show
the effects of his new connection with the Christian Church. The
Emperors had hitherto been absolute and despotic in their power —
he puts limits to his own authority. The slaves. had hitherto en-
joyed little more legal protection than the ox of the field — he
makes laws to protect them, and to prepare the way for their
gradual emancipation. He mitigates the cruelties of Roman pun-
ishment ; he restrains the rapacity of magistrates ; he checks the
injustice of the rich against the poor ; he repeals the laws which
authorize concubinage ; he puts limits to the avarice of visurers ;
he takes precautions against the destitution of poor children, and
provides for their support at the public expense. In reference to
the Church, he authorized and encouraged the erection of temples,
and the solemnities of public worship. The immunities which he
conferred upon the clergy, as a distinct body, were exceedingly
limited. He merely exempted them from personal taxation, and
from public service ; and it is remarkable that he conferred the
same exemption upon physicians, and the professors of Belles-
Lettres.
It does not appear that there was any formal union of Church
and State, either expressly or implied, during his reign. And the
influence which was exercised by the clergy in civil affairs, from
that period until the total destruction of the empire, in Western
Europe, was entirely of a moral natare. The sanctity of their
lives, in most instances — the more elevated character of their virtue
— their sympathies for the wretched, theii works of charity and zeal,
LECTtJEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 42'3
must account, principally, for the influence which they exercised
during that period. That they began to be regarded by the people
with veneration and affection, as their best friends, is undeniable,
and easily accounted for. The authorities of the State, also, found
among them men of superior learning, whom they often took to
their counsels in critical matters appertaining to secular affairs. It
was the age of the Augustines,- the Leos, the Chrysostoms, the
Jeromes, and the other great writers and fathers of the Christian
Church. Already had the Church framed such laws as were re-
quired for the order of her clergy and the government of her mem-
bers. These laws were founded on the new principles of Christian
equity, and adapted, as a code of discipline, to the situation of the
faithful. They were as canons — rules — the authority necessary for
the execution of which rested, as a spiritual authority, in the Church
itself. The highest penalty known to the Church, then, or at any
time, was excommunication. But this spiritual weapon acquired,
in the lapse of ages, and from another source, civil consequences
which did not belong to it as an instrument of ecclesiastical disci-
pline. Successive Christian emperors, either from a zeal for religion,
or with a desire to promote the welfare of their people, took por-
tions of this ecclesiastical discipline, and incorporated them with
the civil laws in the jurisprudence of the State, attaching to the
violation of them civil penalties, which it was never pretended the
Church had intrinsic power to inflict. It is in this gradual and
almost imperceptible manner that the mixture or the union of the
two powers seems to have occurred. In our first popular view of
the subject, we are apt to imagine that the Church and the State
were two great tyrants, who, if they had kept separated, could not
have accomplished much to the detriment of mankind ; and who,
for this reason, agreed to unite for the purpose of more effectually
enthralling their common subjects. No phantom of the imagina-
tion can be more false or delusive than this. The union took place
in the manner I have described ; and at the period of its occur-
rence, it is quite probable, that neither the heads of the Sta,te, nor
the authorities of the Church, had the slightest anticipations of the
ulterior consequences to which it has led. It thus became incor-
porated in the imperial code of public jurisprudence, as we see by
the compilations of the Emperors Justinian and Theodosius the
younger.
As an instrument of government, however, even this code (of
the Emperors Justinian and Theodosius the younger) perished with
the fallen power of the Empire. The barbarians laughed at written
laws ; and when civil order, and government, and everything apper-
taining to the habits of organized life, had been overthrown by
them,''in their several irruptions, there remained hardly a hope for
the restoration of society, except in the living authority of the
clergy and the Church. Whatever may be our judgment of the
question, in the happier organization of modern times, it is doubt-
ful to my own mind, whether in such a universal crisis, the Church
428 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
would not have been recreant to her duty, if she had not rushed to
the'rescue of humanity. It is clear, that if her own doctrine and
constitution had not been, according to the intention of her founder,
indestructible, they too would have be'en carried away by the
deluge of ignorance and barbarism which overswept the world.
When the turbid waters had settled, all that remained was chaos ;
and on the Church devolved the work of the new creation. She
alone, in the midst of the ruins, preserved the memory and all that
survived of the annals of the times that had passed away. En- ■
tirely destitute of physical power, she could exercise but a moral
force, whioh the rude nations entirely disregarded. The first thing
necessary, is to win them over to the religion of Christ ; and though
the self-destroying virtues of that rehgion were but little heeded
by those martial proselytes, still it was an important point, even for
their temporal melioration, that they should be believers in the
Christian doctrines, which they did not always practice.
, Three things are. obviously necessary for the formation and well-
laeing of society ; order, liberty, and the power of defence. It is
manifest, that liberty, without order, is licentiousness ; and the diffi-
culty in the conditions of those new populations was, first and most
of all, the absence of order. They were to be civilized ; and this
could not be accomplished without subordination. To say, then,
that the interference of the Church, at that period, was a meddling
with civil government, as the term is now understood, would con-
vey an entirely false m.eaning. Properly speaking, there was no
civil state in existence. All was confusion, rapine, tumult, and dis-
order. Yet, in all this chaos and confusion, there lay the germ of
all our modern States, which would have perished, in all probability,
had not the Church provided, as best she could, for its culture and
future development. The clergy became, to a certain extent, and
of necessity, the defenders of the weak against the oppressions of
the strong. The Councils of the Church are no longer exclusively
employed in defining the great truths of the Christain faith. The
moral and social condition of the people, as well as of the clergy,
engaged their particular attention. The civil power is everywhere
paralyzed and rendered impotent, by the turbulent independence of
chieftains ; and the people — that is, the whole mass of the common
people — are crushed to the earth, by the power which those chief-
tains claimed to exercise over them. In the enactments of several
of the synods, during those ages, questions appertaining to the
State are treated and disposed of. The council is a kind of mixed
assembly — a species of general European Congress — in which, after
the ecclesiastical authorities have transacted what appertains to
doctrinal matters, princes and the heads of States take part in
forming regulations affecting their own subjects ; and this, for the
obvious purpose of giving those enactments a greater moral sanction,
as if coming from the approbation and authority of the Church.
This was particularly the case with the great Council of Lateran.
It is to be remarked, that even under the Empire, the bishops
LECTUKE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 42U
aometimes discharged the office of civil judges, in case the parties
were Christians, and by mutual consent appealed to them for their ,
decision. After the events we have described, and in the ne\i^ order
of things, this was still more natural and necessary. They alone
had some idea of the ancient jurisprudence ; and the people natu-
rally flocked to their tribunal, rather than to the barbarous ordeals,
or proofs by fire, by water, and by duel, which the Northmen were
accustomed to employ. But the part which the bishops took in
civilizing the legislation of States, is too extensive to allow me to
dwell upon it in detail.
We must rather, now, raise our eyes to those great events, in
which the head of the Church on earth incurred so much censure
of modern times. We. must not forget, that the system of govern-
ment which then prevailed, and the influence of the Church, as
diffused among the people, made it the constant interest of those
who were unjustly oppressed by superior force, to strengthen their
cause by whatever support might be derived from the sanction of
religion. Hence the frequent appeals from the princes to the Pope,
to shield their rights against the unscrupulous invasions of rivals
and enemies. It frequently happened, that as all property or rights
under the protection of the Church were deemed more sacred and
inviolable, . princes, for their better security, became vassals of the
Holy See ; and hence, the origin of those claims, which many of
the popes cherished and enforced, to be regarded as the first rulers
of the temporal, as they were, in reality, of the spiritual kingdom.
It is, indeed, quite true, that not only some of themsehes, but also
some writers of their times, disposed to flatter their views, have
contended that they inherited the one right, no less than the other,
in virtue of their succeeding to the special powers which Christ
conferred on St. Peter, for the government of the Christian fold.
Having once conceived this notion, we know that in some cases
it was carried to an extravagant length. On the other hand, the
population of Europe, rude as was their condition, professed them-
selves believers and members of the Church. The same persons
were, also, members of the State ; and the laws for their govern-
ment emanating from this double source, instead of acting on them
separately, were blended, in many instances, by the authority of
the State alone, into a complex code of legislation, embracing both
civil and ecclesiastical law. Thus it was assumed, that, as all were
of the same faith, the two powers — though having their separate
existence, in themselves — might be so united as to produce harmony
of results, and contribute to the general good. Instead of this,
however, the mixture seems to have led to perpetual strifes and
misunderstandings. It would not be possible to enter upon the
merits of a single controversy between the pope and any of the
sovereigns with whom he so frequently disputed. It is true, that
at times, and in the case of individual popes, the claim to exercise
authority over what Avould now be called the civil affairs of this
world, reached to an extent at which we, judging it by the standard
430 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
of the present day, look back with astonishment and wonder ; until
at length such claims naturally died away, when the causes, and the
system of those ages which had called them into existence, ceased
to operate and to exist. We look upon them as a strange anomaly
in the history of Europe ;, but we must not forget, that they oc-
curred at a time when its whole civil and social condition was made
up of systematized anomalies. It is quite possible, however, that
were we able to appreciate the necessities and circumstances in
which those claims originated, we should think them perfectly
natural, and come to regard them as having been instrumental,
not only in the establishment of civil order, but, also, in the first
planting, the first remote preparation of the very liberties and secu-
rity which Christian nations now enjoy.
Whenever a striking and extraordinary development of any single
moral power has occurred in the history of mankind, we may be
assured that it is the result of some latent principle, deeply, though
perhaps, silently working in {he mass of the people, which thus
finds a vent and a medium of expression. So in regard to the civil
authority exercised by the Pope. We must Seek an explanation
for it far more adequate than the superficial idea of priestly ambi-
tion, working on the ignorance of the popular mind. Besides the
direct spiritual mission of the Church, the popes, as her visible
head on earth, have ever felt a deep and profound interest in the
happiness and moral improvement of the Christian people. It was
in the direction to promote that happiness, that order should be
made to rise out of chaos, after the breaking up of the Roman
Empire. It was in the same dii-ection, that simultaneously with the
establishment of order, the elements of civilized liberty should be
gradually evolved out of the rude form of savage freedom, which
the invaders had brought from the forests of the North. How
could those objects be accomplished, except by bringing them under
submission to moral authority ? And there was no authority under
heaven, before which those iron-hearted warriors would have sub-
mitted, except that of religion — in other words, of the Church.
The pillage, and strife, and turbulence of the times, pointed out the
exercise of this spiritual power as the only principle of common
safety. It became recognized, acknowledged — e\en popular, as a
mighty source of God's, providence, for the conservation of human
rights, during a period that threatened to overthrow them all.
The law of the State, so-called was, with the exception of a few
barbarous enactments, the law of the strong against the weak.
But the law of the Church, framed in its code of discipline, to
meet the exigencies of the times, in regard to the morals, both of
the clergy and of the laity, was a code to which all professed sub-
mission. That law was no respecter of persons ; it was the same
for the noble, the prince, the peasant, and the serf.
You \<ill see accordingly, in the history of those times, bishops
and popes employing the spiritual weapon of excommunication and
other censures, with a directness ajid independence which, viewed
LECTUEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 431
in the light of our age, appear infinitely extra-\agant and almost
inoouccivable. N"ow, the sentence denounced against the people,
or some of their factious leaders, for their insubordination to their
rulers ; and now it is fulminated with the same stern impartiality
against their sovereigns themselves. The merits of the quarrels
between individual popes and princes, are variously judged of in
history ; but there is one conclusion, which forces itself on the
mind of whoever reads history dispassionately, and in the light of
philosophy ; which is, that apart from the mere personal passions
and feelings of these individual popes and princes themselves, the
principle of ecclesiastical censures, as applied to the temporal con-
cerns of the people, was to reduce them into civil subordination ;
while its principle again, when directed against their sovereigns,
was that, in enforcing subordination, the rights and liberties of the
people should be preserved and protected, according to the public
laws and the oaths of office by which those sovereigns had bound
themselves to rule. If, again, you find the popes encouraging, and
sometimes almost heading those military enterprises or crusades
for the recovery of the Holy Land, falling in with the paroxysms
of enthusiasm which they themselves had excited, it -was because
neither subordination nor liberty could be of any avail, unless the
Christian nations of western Europe combined for their common
defence. Religion was the only social bond of communion, on
which those nations could be rallied ; and had not the Church inter-
fered for the purpose of uniting them, we do not see by what
human means the followers of the Arabian prophet would have
been prevented from overthrowing the nations of Christendom, and
leaving western Europe to be found, at the present day, in the
same condition as the Turkish Empire.
The philosophical analysis of the exercise of ecclesiastical power,
putting aside mere party views, will show that, whatever may have
been the intention of the popes, their inflaence, in point of histori-
cal fact, was directed to forming and maturing the three great
principles on which civilized society can alone rest securely ; namely,
ordei', liberty, and public safety. It is acknowledged*, on all hands,
that they were men in advance of the civilization of their age ; and
it is impossible to conceive that the pope — without any physical
force at his command ; oftentimes unable to govern his own petty
territory ; frequently obliged, when he had just launched his sent-
ence against some tyrant, to fly and hide himself— should have been
able to find so general an acquiescence in that sentence, if he had
not been, in those ages, the personification of some great popular
principle, or social want, working in the hearts of the people them-
■ selves ; but which, in such times, could not otherwise find expres-
sion or produce effect. Neither should this appear wonderful.
The Church herself, in all her own forms pf government, was, as
she still is, a model of modified and admirably well-regulated demo-
cratic jurisprudence. In the Church, the principle of suffrage and
election h.as ever prevailed. It was by election or merit, that the
432 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
clergy themselves were taken from the ranks of the people ; and
even the humblest member of the clerical body, according to the
constitution of the Church might, by that principle of election, be
elevated from one grade to another, even to the highest dignity.
]Many of the popes, even to the present day, were taken from the
ranks of the people. N"ow, this model of the universal Church
pervaded civil society at all times. It was constantly in action,
isefore the eyes of the people, and could not fail to give them those
primary -notions of order and of liberty, by which their respect for
mere physical strength and brute courage gradually gave way to
their reverence for moral force and intellectual merit. The councils,
also, famished them with a model of deliberative and representative
assemblies. For, let it be remembered, that this principle of elec-
tion and representation is unknown beyond the limits of Chris-
tianity ; and, even within these limits, is not derived from any idea
of a " social contract," but from the living, practical, daily work-
insf, and example, of the social principles of the ancient Church.
It may be asked, however, what right popes could have had to
meddle with sovereigns at all ? In addition to what has already
been said ; viz. : that this meddling was in accordance with the
usages of the times — it is to be observed that it was then^ the only
means by which limits could be put to regal and imperial despotism.
A Christian sovereign was, by this means denied, and abriged of,
the right of being despotic. He was sworn to fulfill the obligations
prescribed at his coronation : and he was sworn under the implied
and admitted penalty of being called to an account by the Church,
if he afterwards violated his oath and became publicly peijured.
But not for this cause, exclusively ; if he opposed his subjects,
contrary to the laws ; if he outraged some great principle of Chris-
tian morals ; if he would have two wives, at the same time ; or in
any other manner, glaringly violated his duty as a Christian, or as
a ruler ; — the modern idea, that a sovereign has a right to govern
as he thinks proper, would have been for him of no avail. The
eyes of his own subjects, and of Christendom, in such a case, would
be turned upon the common father of the Church — remonstrance
from the Pope would follow — after remonstrance threats ; and if
these proved fruitless, then came the celebrated " thunders of the
Vatican ;" the mere imaginary echoes of which, conjures up hob-
goblins in the minds of grown up children, down to the present
day.
Thus the Church, or rather the people, vindicating their rights
through the head of the Church, tolerated no despot, no tyrant, on
the thrones of Europe. Far be it from me to assert that this acci-
dental power was not sometimes exercised in an arbitrary and
improper manner, in mere passionate and personal quarrels, in
which, beyond the personal motive, there is not a shadow of prin-
ciple involved. But, at the same time, I have myself no hesitation
in declaring the conviction, that it is to this power, rightly or
wrongly exercised, that we are indebted for the advantage of re-
LECTUEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 433
sponsible governments in modern times. The truth is, that the
king or emperor, under this system, came to be regarded as only
the supreme officer of the whole people ; and that, while this sys-
tem prevailed, even in its mitigated form, which has also long since
passed away, the idea of an absolute government in Christendom
was utterly unknown. Under it the representation of the public
wants and public will grew up, in the form of Diets, General As-
semblies, Cortes, and Parliaments ; and the object of these assem-
blies was to circumscribe and regulate the power of the sovereign,
no less than to define or enlarge the rights of the subject. The
Cortes of Spain, while this jurisprudence was at least theoretically
in existence, still were accustomed to tell their sovereign, at the
opening of the assembly, " that each of them was equal to himself,
and all united ^\-ere more than his equal." We know what rights
were exercised, and what limits were prescribed, for the royal
authority in the Diets of Germany, and in the parliaments of
France and England.
In those days, the " divine right of monarchy" never entered
into the heads of men. Even in the eighth century. Pope Zachary,
writing to the people of France, says : " The prince is responsible
to the people, whose favor he enjoys. Whatever he has — power,
honor, glory, dignity — he has received from the people
The people make the king, they can also unmake him." St. Thomas
Aquinas, one of the greatest divines of the Church, in any age,
lays down in his principles of theology, that Civil Governments are
not by " divine right," but by " human right ;" and that, " when
anything is to be enacted for the common good, it ought to be done
either by the whole multitude of the people, or by their representa-
tive." Even Bellarmine says, " it is false, that political princes have
their power from God only ; for they have it from God, only so far
as he has planted a natural instinct, in the minds of men, that they
should wish to be governed by some one. But whether they should
be governed by kings, or by consuls — by one, or by many — by a
perpetual, or temporary magistrate, depends upon their own wishes,"
In fact, so far as the Church had power to influence the thoughts
and ideas of men, in regard to the responsibility attached to the
exercise of power, this was the doctrine perpetually inculcated, anil
the working out of this principle, in the middle ages, was only
different in form, but essentially the same in essence as at the pres-
ent day. Then, it was accomplished through the medium of an
excommunication ; now, through that of revolution.
This doctrine was not a theory only, but reduced to practice.
Bracton, one of the judges of Henry III. of England, writes, that
" the monarch is called King (Rex) from governing well, and not
from reigning ; because he is king while he reigns well, but a tyrant
when he violently oppresses the people intrusted to him." And ho
adds, thaJ, " he is not a king who rules by his own will, and not by
the law." In the Council of Lyons, held in the reign of the same
Henry, the Enghsh proxies, both f if the Church p,nd of the realm, pro-
28
434 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
tested against King John's grant of tribute to the Pope, as a nullity,
and called on the council for redress— precisely because the King
had made the grant without the consent or the nation. The
Magna Charta itself— the old well-spring of all our liberties— was
but the loriilen text of the liberties which had been preserved, in
the customs and traditions of the people, from the time of Edward
the Confessor ; but which, now, are reduced to writing, " signed,
sealed, and dehvered, by the parties thereto." Particulars in de-
tail, however, must be omitted, in a subject like the present. It is
sufficient to observe, that the old common law of England contained
all the elements of perfect civil freedom ; that a custom, " time out
of mind," " whereof," in the old phrase, " the memory of man
goeth not back to the same," was as good a title for popular rights
and privileges, as any statute of both houses of parliament. And
whence did these customs, usages, and common law, derive their
origin ? Unquestionably, from the principles of canon law, en-
grafted on the nation and ingrained into the people, through the
medium of the clergy and the Church.
Hence, the obscure origin of those rights which we prize most,
in the improved civilization of the present day — the just organiza-
tion of the courts of justice — the character and condition of wit-
nesses— the equality of right between the humblest subject and the
sovereign himself — the rights of the accused— the forms and order
of deliberative assemblies, and the universal rights of representation
in aifairs, such as taxes, connected with burdening the people.
Time, and the improvements of the public mind, have contributed,
no doubt, to perfect all these great instruments and formularies of
public and social right. But if the course of human events, through
the lapse of the middle ages, had not compelled the Church to
interfere in the temporal concerns of States and sovereigns, it is
altogether improbable that we should ever be blessed witlj their
enjoyment. They do not exist in Russia, nor in Turkey ; and
although the Chinese Empire has enjoyed a certain dwarfish civili-
zation for more than two thousand years, there has been no increase
— no development in her social institutions ; and she preserves to
this day, among other evidences, that universal type of unchristian
and barbarous nations, namely, hostility to foreigners. [The ap-
plause here was very great.]
It would be, however, a mistake to suppose, that the Pope in
launching excommunications for civil crimes, had no rule of guid-
ance ; or, that the people paid any attention to them when they
were palpably against their rights. The principle of excommunica-
tion was recognized ; but the justice of its application, in such
cases, was a matter of individual judgment, according to the jnerits
oi each particular case. Thus, there are instances, and particularly
in reference to the dispute between King John and his barons, in
which the people, and the bishops, too, disregarded the Pope's
judgment, an^ even his censures, with as much true independence,
as they would at the present day ; not because they rebelled against
LECTtTEE ON ,THE MIDDLE AGES. 435
his authority, but because that authority had been exercised through
the false representations of the monarch.
Strange and confused as this state of society seems to have been
— this working and fermentation of all the elements of civil and
of social order — yet it was in such a state of things that the rights
of humanity, the limits and the duty of government, and the laws
of nations, were brought out and defined. Toward the latter end
of the peiiod, which may be still included in the Middle Ages, arts
and sciences and general literature were revived. The discoveries
which were made became, or ought to have become, new instru-
menj;s of greater development — particularly the compass, the dis-
covery of gunpowder, and the press. But it is quite certain that
liberty, and the protection of laws, and the cultivation of science,
have not made, within the last three hundred years, half the progress
they had made during the three hundred years previous.
Among the evils resulting from the system of mixing Church
and State, may be enumerated that persecution which the State, or
tho Church, or both together, exercised in case of departure from
the established faith. It certainly never was a principle of the
Church, to coerce men's religious convictions. One thousand testi-
monies in every age will show her teaching to have been, that man's
conviction of Christian truth, in order to be acceptable to God,
must be sincere and voluntary ; and yet, the history of these ages
shows the extent to which, authorized by laws growing out of the
union referred to, governments punished religious errors with tem-
poral penalties. But it so happened, in the actual condition of
society, every error, or heterodox opinion in religion, became a
crime against the State ; and it is equally true, that, for the most
part, the advocates of new doctrines, in those ages, trusted not a
little to their swords for the propagation or maintenance of their
faith. Thus, the Donatists, in the fourth century, are assailed by
the State ; but not till after they had thrown the provinces of
Africa into confusion by their violence. In the same century, some
of the Priscillianists', in Spain, were put to death. The most cele-
brated bishops of the Church, however, in that age — such as St
Martin and St. Ambrose — pronounced their anathemas against thf
authore of those executions. In fact, they were directed by the
avarice of the tyrant Maximus, in order to possess himself of their
property.
In the fifth century, Pelagianism, another heterodox system of
rehgion, passed, without however exciting bloodshed or civil dis-
cord. The Iconoclasts, of the eighth century, instead of being
perseoflted, became themselves the persecutors. The Albigenses,
m the twelfth century, appear to have been the objects of the most
severe laws and measures recorded in the annals of those ages.
Cotemporaiy writers describe them as persons who could not be
tolerated, even at the present day, by any civilized government in
the world. They were entirely distinct in their doctrines, and in
their history, from the Waldenses — who appear to have been of a
436 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
simpb, patient, and tranquil character. All this, however, did not
save them from the intolerant spirit of the age. The fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries are more distinguished for the wars which were
carried on, under pretence of religion, but which, it may be safely
suspected, had their origin more in the prospect of political advan-
tages on either side, than in the love of truth, or the pure zeal for
its triumph. The struggle appears to have been, between Catholics
and Protestants, who should persecute the most — for, as I renaarked
before, the mixture of civil and ecclesiasticat power which, in the
early ages, was, as I conceive, the result of circumstances or neces-
sity, has been kept up in all the modern governments of Europe,
of every religious name, down to the present day.
If the Catholics have sinned, on this subject, as I am ready to
concede, it cannot be denied on the other hand, that, in their
regard, the iniquities of the fathers have been visited on the chil-
dren, to the third and fourth generation. There is certainly no
denomination of Christians, that has so little reason to be in love
with Church-and-State-Unions, as the Catholics. In most Catholic
countries themselves, that union holds their religion in a species of
degrading bondage. In Protestant governments, they are grateful
for the privilege of worshipping God according to the faith of their
fathers ; but the good things of the State are not for them. But
other denominations have been, equally, made to feel the oppressions
■ of this system. And it may have been a special providence of
God, that this great unpeopled hemisphere should have been dis-
covered, preciself at a period, when it could serve as a refuge and
an asylum for the persecuted of every name, and of every creed.
It was this system of Church-and-State-Union, which caused the
Puritan pilgrims to seek a landing place on the rook of Plymouth, in
Massachusetts. It was this, which caused the tranquil waters of
St. Mary's river, in Maryland, to be disturbed by the bark of the
Catholic pilgrims ; and from that period to the present, whenever
civil or religious liberty have been rudely invaded throughout the
civilized world, the eyes of the sufferer have wistfully turned
toward the home of conscience and freedom in the west.
It v,'i]\ be recorded hereafter as a glorious circumstance, in the
annals of this country, that the solitary pilgrim, on arriving at these
shores, no matter from what nation, has been met by the humane
and liberal genius of the land, which inspired even his own country-
men to form societies for the purpose of his relief; and that these
societies are sustained by the generous spirit and approbation of the
whole country. It is now more than seven hundred years since
Pope Adrian TV. made a present of Ireland to King Henry II. It
is true, that the authenticity of the document has been been denied ;
but taking it for granted, it could never have entered into the mind
of his holiness, that he was remotely preparing the necessity for the
human ) and cnaritable work, in which you, gentlemen of the Irish
Emigrant Society, are engaged. It was not, however, the docu-
ment, real or pretended, of the Pope, which transferred Ireland's
STATE OP THE EIOCESE. 431
sovereignty to a foreign government. Even in that age, the Irish
would have looked on such a document as so much blank j^arch-
ment. But their own internal divisions made them an easy prey
I'or the sword of the invader. During these seven centuries, they
have been crushed and trampled to the earth. While both coun-
tries were Catholics they were denied the benefit of English laws.
When a new religion was adopted in England, and when the
monarch of that country — as those of most other countries, that
embraced the change — made himself the single and only source,
both of civil and ecclesiastical power, Ireland felt the benefit of
English laws only in the bitterness of their proscription. She,
however, for the most part, adhered to her first convictions ; re-
mained constant and faithful to her first love. Penalties have been
inflicted ; but they have produced no change. If penalties were
still threatened, we should h9,ve no dread ; but there is something
else, which is now spoken of, and which comes within the legitimate
range of my subject. The State, or its organs, are throwing out
hints, as if the intention were now to effect an indirect union with
the Irish Catholic, no less than the Irish Protestant Church. This,
should it ever be attempted, will be presented as a measure of
kindness. And we know, that in the treatment of the Irish Catho-
lic people, by the British Government, kindness is the only tempta-
tion that never was tried. That it will be as unavailing as the rest,
I have no doubt.
The people and their clergy — and above all, their faithful and
vigilant hierarchy — will never, at this late day, permit the ministry
of their religion to be polluted, or even brought into suspicion, by
the touch of government gold. I have great confidence in all this.
But I have greater still, in the mercies of God toward a long-suffer-
ing people. Still, if in the inscrutable counsels of Providence,
such an event be yet in reserve, I should bow down in submissive
adoration ; but, while boAving, I should pray Him as a humble
member of the Universal Hierarchy, that the day which should
witness such humiliation, might be postponed until after I, at least,
shall have been gathered to the sleep of my fathers.
STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF NEW YORK IN 1841.
"We feel much pleasure,"says the Freeman's Journal of October
23d, 1841 "in laying before our readers the annexed highly interest-
ing communication from the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes, on the
state of the Diocese of New York :"
Deae Sie, — As a review of the state of religion in this Diocese
cannot but be interesting to a large number .pf your readers, I pur-
pose to furnish you with a brief sketch of the result of my obser-
vations during the recent episcopal visitation of the churches. It
is to be regretted, that the limited time at my disposal did not
i38 AECHBIS'JOP HUGHES.
allow me to sta}' in the several places sufficiently long to become
acquainted with the details of matters pertaining to this subject.
But one thing gave me great consolation, as a general remark, that
the congregations manifest a decided improvement in attention to
their religit)us duties, and, in many instances,^ ip their external
appearance and the prosperous condition of their churches. _ This,
I have reason to believe, is, in a great measure, to be ascribed to
the temperate habits, which now almost universally distinguish the
churches of the State of New York. The Clergy, with commenda^
ble zeal, have urged upon their flocks the advantages to be derived,
not only in a temporal, but more particularly in a spiritual point of
view, from a strict observance of that sobriety which is enjoined
by the precepts of religion, but unhappily too often violated in the
practices of men. In Albany, Schenectady, Utica, Rochester, and,
with only one or two exceptions; in all the other congregations of
the Diocese, there are Temperance Associations established, which
include nearly the whole of the Catholic population. Wherever
this change has taken place, the Clergy liave given me assurance of
the happiest results, even in cases in which there had appeared to
be no ground of hope. The peace of families has been restored
and remains unbroken — prosperity has been the reward of industry
— and industry itself but the child of improved habits — and, as a
matter of course, more of the comforts of life are enjoyed — more
order prevails — ^and means which had been before wasted, or worse,
are now applied to the clothing and education of children, whose
neglected state, in the unhappy course of former times, was enough
to excite pity in any breast. Thus much with regard to temporal
consequences. But the Clergy have also assured me of the increase
in the numbers of those who frequent the Sacraments, and that
instances have occurred in which persons, who for years had been
esti'anged from the consolations of religion, in consequence of
intemperate habits, have returned, and, with an awakened sense of
duty, have become edifying members of the flock, and patterns in
their own families. Independent of these testimonies, my own eye
■\\-as witness — in the general appearance of the congregations — the
decorum and order, and external aspect of the people — to the
blessed results of a return to the temperance which religion enjoins,
and which no Christian ought to violate. There is but one thing
connected with this reformation, to which I would direct the atten-
tion of the Pastors and their,flocks — it is the remark that wherever
Temperance Societies have proceeded on the ordinary principles of
social organization they have not produced these unmixed sources
"of consolation. That is, when, they have began their oi-ganizatioli
in the appointment of Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and other offi-
cers, and conducted their meetings as is usual under such organiza-
tion, then, although temperance, as to abstinence from liquo'r, may
have prevailed, yet intemperance in language — bitterness of feeling,
and divisions, have but too frequently accompanied it. I would
therefore recommend to the Clergy, and to the people of the difier
STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 439
ent congregations, that wherever temperance Societies are to be
established, the form should be as simple as possible. That which
prevails so happily in Ireland under the auspices and untiring zeal
of the great Father Mathew, is that which I would uniformly
recommend— namely, that each member will receive simply the
pledge, whether in one form or another, from the hands of his
Pastor, and know no other duty, in consequence, than to keep it
with fidelity. There is no necessity for external banding together
for this purpose ; and, wherever it has been attempted, by such
banding and organization the evil consequences just alluded to
have uniformly followed.
In a brief sketch, such as that which I now propose to furnish, it
would be impossible for me to enter upon the improved condition,
and increasin'g_ numbers of the several congregations. I have ob-
served with pleasure the fidelity with which the Clergy in general
discharge their duties to the utmost of their ability. Complaints
have been rare — indeed, with one single exception, no such thing
has occurred during the whole course of the visitation, and in that
exception I was happy to find that the complaint was founded, not
in any neglect of duty, or other ground of reproach on the part of
the Pastor, but rather in unreasonable expectations and caprice on
the part of those who had felt dissatisfaction towards him. During
my tour I visited the churches of Albany, Troy, Schenectady, and
the other principal towns, excepting those in the Northern District.
In Albany, there are now two large and commodious churches, and
it is found that these are not sufficient to contaizi the numbers of
the faithful. An effort is being made by the German Catholics of
Albany, who number from one hundred to one hundred and sixty
families, to erect a church in which they also may enjoy the conso-
lations of religion, through the medium of their own language.
At present, however, I have no priest to send. But I am in the
expectation that some missionaries from their native land may come
to sympathize in their condition and administer to them those sacred
rights which they were accustomed to frequent in the country of
their birth. But, besides the church for their accommodation,
another would be necessary for the members who speak the Eng-
lish language. In Troy there are also two churches ; whilst in
West Troy an additional church is much wanted. In the village of
Lansingburgh, a church is also wanted for the number of Catholics
residing there ; and in the neighboring town of Waterford, Mr,
Tracy has purchased a site, which he generously offers for that pur-
pose ■; and- the venerable Mr. Rawson, an aged and zealous convert
to the Catholic faith, has promised a donation of five hundred
dollars so soon as the undertaking is commenced. Still, at present,
partly througli want of moans, and partly because there is no clergy-
man to be placed at their head, it would not be prudent to com-
mence its erection. We may hope, however, that in a short time a
clergyman will be found who will organize this congregation, and
one or two others that might be attended from the same place.
440 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
In Schenectady — where but a few years ago, there w as divine
service only once in the month, by a priest from Albany — there is
now a Ti'eat brick church, and a flourishing congregation, too^large
to be accommodated within its walls. Nearly every membV_ of
this congregation has joined the Total Abstinence Association.
Between Schenectady and Utioa, there is but one clergyman, whose
principal station is at Little Falls. At present, the laborers on the
enlargement of the canal constitute the largest portion of his flock,
and amongst them also, I am happy to state, that improved habits,
in consequence of temperance, prevail, and are rapidly gaining for
them the regard and kind feeling of the neighborhood in which
they are employed. In Utica there are two churches — one pur-
chased recently by the German Catholics of that city and neighbor-
hood, for whom 1 am, as yet, unable to procure a clergyman. This
efibrt, however, made in the hope of obtaining a pastor, is an edify-
ing proof that these emigrants have not waxed cold in their attach-
ment to the faith. The other portion of the Catholics is under the
care of the Rev. Mr. Martin — whose labors for their welfare ai'e
the theme of every tongue. There are in this neighborhood two
churches, with their congregations, at present without a pastor.
These vacancies we may also hope soon to supply from those who
are now preparing in the Theological Seminary at Rose Hill. The
next station -westward is Rome. So few were the Catholics in that
village but a short period since, that the idea of erecting a church
was deemed extravagant, and the proposed building quite unneces-
sary. Yet it was undertaken, and we were delighted to see, stand-
ing on an eminence that overlooks the railroad and the town, a
beautiful church of Grecian architecture, erected on ground that
was gratuitously given by Jasper Lynch, Esq., the original proprie-
tor of the village. Not only did this gentleman give the site, but
he also most generously contributed towards the erection of the
building, the beautiful portico of which was entirely at his expense.
Here also, the congregation is so large as to make it probable that
in a short time even this building will not sufiice for its accommo-
dation. There are, besides, in the neighborhood of Jlome, a very
large number of German Catholics and Canadian emigrants, Avho,
on account of the difierence of language, cannot be so well provided
for in their spiritual relations even if the pastor were able to attend
to so mail}'.
From Rome — so expeditious is the travelling by the great West-
ern railroad — it was the business of but a few hours to reach the
next station, that of Salina. Here the congregation is less fluctuat-
ing, as, the numbers and the increase, though perhaps not as large
as in other places, are more permanent owing to the steadiness of
employment aflbrded by the extensi^'e salt works. Of the two
villages of Syracuse and Salina, it was long doubtful which was
destined to become the more important ; but for some years past
events have determined in favor of the former. A very large num-
ber of Catholics have settled in Syracuse, and they are now engaged
STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 44]
in an effort to erect a church in that place. In the mean time the;^
form part of the congregation of Salin.a, for which the church,
originally conceived to he too large, has been found entirely inade-
quate to afford the requisite accommodation. The worthy and
zealous clergyman in this place has not deemed it necessary to
establish a temperance association, inasmuch as without it, his flock
has become remarkable for sober and abstemious habits. From Salina,
the next station was Auburn, where I had not time to make such
delay as I could have wished. The congregation here is very small
and does not appear to increase. It is visited but once a month by
the pastor, who has to attend to two other congregations, those of
Seneca Falls and Geneva. In this mission the only increase at
present apparent is in the congregation at Seneca Falls. This is to
be accounted for principally by the encouragement there afforded
for manual employment, and the inducements which extensive
improvements going on in that neighborhood, hold out to mechanics
or laborers. The church at Geneva has, however, had but little
prosperity. It has now been erected ten years, yet the number of
Catholics connected with it now are not greater than they were at
the time of its erection. The state of the pecuniary affairs of this
chui-ch may be quoted as an instance of that mismanagement which
is but too general, unfortunately, for the interests of our religion
and our people. This church was originally constructed at a cost
of about two thousand dollars, of which twelve hundred were
raised by subscription, and paid at the time. Since then we are not
aware of any improvements requiring further expenditure having
been made, yet, strange as it may appear, the church now stands
indebted to the amount of Nearly three thousand dollars — a sum
more than double its actual xalne ! The management of the
affairs of this church has been in the hands of persons appointed in
the ordinary way as trustees, whose intentions have doubtless been
good, but ^^■ho have, ne\'ertheless, been so unhappy in accomplishing
their designs, as to present the unfortunate result just stated. There
can be no doubt that some measures are absolutely essential to cor-
rect the evils of the .present system of managing church property.
The idea has been extensively cherished that the clergy of the
Catholic Church should not interfere in the management of its tem-
poral concerns. For my own part, I believe the idea has been the
cause of much detriment to religion, both as regards its spiritual
progress and the temporal means that are dedicated to its support ;
for, the consequence has been that the clergy have naturally declined
all interference. They have not chosen to incur fatigue, and labor
and annoyance, which would earn for them, not the gratitude of those
apparently most interested, but which would bring down their cen-
sure. And yet it has been found that these same clergymen who
are not deemed competent to have even a voice in the distribution or
economy of the church funds, have always been looked to as the per-
sons whose duty it was to provide these funds. But on themselves,
the effect has been thg,t they have become less interested in proper-
442 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
tion as they were deprived of their rights of interference and power
of doing good. The trustees of this church were enabled to show
to tlieir own satisfaction how the strange accunaulation of debt has
been effected, but I confess that I could not comprehend the ex-
planation. But neither do I for one moment entertain any other
opinion tlian that these persons had undertaken a task for which
they have been by no means qualified, and without intending to
mismanage the affairs of the chui-ch, that those affairs have been
most unaccountably mismanaged. The very lot, or rather one of
the tvio lots on which the church stands, and which had been paid
for years ago, was allowed to remain so implicated in the general
property of the individual of whom the original purchase was made,
that it became subject to sale by a iTiortgage held by him. This
lot was actually permitted to be sold, and now the additional sum
of two hundred and fifty dollars will be required for its release.
This is, perhaps, a strong case in illustration of the evils of a system
which requires correction. But other cases, more or less to be
regretted, are to be found in almost every part of the diocese.
Even in one case so far had these men carried their pretentions that
they determined in opposition to the will of the clergyman, that the
altar should stand in the west instead of the east end of the building
because it pleased them to think it would look better there ! The
result of my observations in reference to this subject it is my inten-
tion to make known as soon as I can find leisure to arrange the
notes I ha\e already prepared. It is most important for the Catho-
lics that a more concise, and responsible mode of managing the
temporal affairs of their churches than that which has hitherto pre-
vailed should be introduced.
The short period of time that I was permitted to spend at Geneva
was necessarily occupied in examining into this melancholy state of
the temporal affairs of that church, and as my engagements required
my presence at Rochester on the following Sunday, it was not in
my power to meet the assembled congregation of Geneva. There
is, perhaps, no city or town in the Diocese in "which there is a pros-
pect of a more permanent increase in the members of the Catholic
Communion than in Rochester. There are at present two churches,
both large and commodious. For those who speak the English lan-
guage the erection of an additional church has been deemed of press-
ing necessity, and measures have been taken for that purpose;
whilst the numbers of the German Catholics, in and about Roches-
ter, equally j-equire that new provision should be made for their
accommodation. Accordingly, two respectable members of the Ligo-
rian Society, who have at present charge of the congregation, have
purchased ground, and are making arrangements for the erection of
a new church suited to the wants of the people. It may be re-
marked that Rochester was one of the first cities to introduce the
principle of the temperance association. Long before it had been
Bpoken of in any other Catholic congregation in this country, and
even before it had been taken uj) by Father Mathew in Ireland, i*
VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLA^■TIC. 443
had been introduced in tlie congregation of the Rev. Mr. O'Reilly
of Rochester, with the happiest efiects, which are still visible. Be-
sides these congregations already established, the large and increas-
ing numbers of Canadian and French Catholics in Rochester audits
neighborhood encourage them to solicit the presence of a clergyman,
who could speak to them in their own language. It is not in my
po^Yer at present to send them one ; nevertheless, their good dis-
positions, and zealous efforts, shall not be forgotten, and as soon as
the opportunity offers of engaging for them a clergyman of their
own nation, it shall certainly be taken advantage of for that purpose.
Seven miles from Rochester is the township of Greece, settled to a
very considerable extent by Catholics. They have not had at all
times the undivided attention of any clergyman, although one of the
first measures adopted by them after the settlement in the place was
to secure the erection of a neat and appropriate church, in which
now they have regular service every Sunday. The members of this
congregation are for the most part agriculturists, some of them own-
ing highly improved plantations, and all the others possessing some
portion at least of the soil on which they reside. During my visit,
and at their piressing solicitation to have a clergyman permanently
residing amongst them, I appointed as their pastor the Rev. Dennis
Kelly.
It will be seen by these hasty remarks that my time did not allow
me to visit the many interesting and important congregations which
are in the neighborhood of all these principal stations, both between
Geneva and Rochester, and the latter place and Lockport. Not only
on the main route, but also back from it, there are many scattered
members of our Communion, cut off, unhappily, by their isolated po-
sition from enjoying the consolations of the public exercises of re-
ligion.
EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HUGHES' JOURNAL
OF A VOYAG-E ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
Mr. Weed, in one of his letters from London in 1843, to the
Albany Evening Journal, says :
I stated in a former letter that I should have occasion to speak
of Bishop Hughes again, and if I now say less of him than I then
intended, it is because a longer and more intimate acquaintance with
him, has imposed restraints that may not be disregarded. Nor will
I, with the Atlantic between me. and the country, the friends, and
the home of my affections, • willingly s.ay aught to wound those who
hold my views njDon the public school question as erroneous. Waiv-
ing these topics, therefore, I shall now content myself with saying
that Bishop Hughes is destined to exert a, powerful influence over
the minds of men. He is in the prime of life, with tastes and habits
and Aspirations which Avill not rest while there are treasures of
444 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
knowledge uiiexploi-ecl ; and next to the sacred office to uJiich he
has been consecrated, he is desirous of promoting the general wel-
fare of his fellow citizens. Ho believes it to be not less the privilege
than the dut}-, of classes of men, to dedicate their whole time and
talents to the enlightenment of the mind, and the alleviation of the
sufferings, and the elevation of the pursuits of their countrymen.
He believes that the spirit of the age, scarcely less than the genius
of our institutions, eminently demands this service from the gifted
men of a Republic which is becoming the " seat of Empire." That
he is a Catholic who will exert his utmost efforts to vindicate and
extend his religious principles, is most true ; but that he is also
a patriot and philanthropist in the broadest and most enlightened
sense of the terms ; and that he will devote a clear head and a warm
heart to the advocacy of rational freedom, of universal education,
of pure morals, and those true Christian virtues, Charity and Peace,
is equally true.
Four years ago, in crossing the Atlantic, Bishop Hughes en-
countered a heavy gale, an account of which he then committed
to a journal kept for the eye only of his sister. On. our passage,
while I was conversing with him on a sermon he had that day
preached on board, in which he had dwelt very eloquently on
the power and wisdom of God as displayed m the " mighty deep,"
the Bishop referred to the storm he had once witnessed, and on a
siibsequent day read to me the account he then wrote of it. This
struck me as one of the most graphic and beautiful descriptions of
a gale that I ever mot with. Believing that this extract from the
Bishop's journal will interest others as it did me, I obtained his re-
luctant consent for its publication, jpromising to state the fact that
it was hastily written on board ship, in obedience to a request of a
sister that he should keep a journal of his tour for her, and without
the slightest expectation that it would ever come in contact with
types and printing press :
* * * * Oct. 20. — Oh, what is there in nature so grand as
the mighty ocean ? The earthquake and volcano are ever sublime
in their display of destructive power. But their sublimity is terrible
from the consciousness of danger with which their exhibitions are
witnessed — and besides, their violent agency is impulsive, sudden
and transient. Not so the glorious ocean. In its very playfulness
you discover that it can be terrible as the earthquake ; but the spirit
of benevolence seems to dwell in its bright and open countenance,
to inspire your confidence. The mountains and valleys, with their
bold lineaments and luxurious verdure, are beautiful ; but theirs is
not like the beauty of the ocean ; for here all is life and movement.
This is not that stationary beauty of rural scenery, in which objects
retain their fixed and relative positions, and wait to be examined and
admired in detail. N"o, the ocean presents a moving scenery, which
passes in review before and around you, challenging admiration.
Those gentle heavings of the great deep, with its unrufaed surface—
these breaking up of its waters into fantastic and varied forms ;
VOYAGE ACEOSS THE All ANTIC. 445
these haltings of the waves, to be thrown forwai-d presently into
aew formations ; these giant billows, these sentinels of the watery
wilderness — all, all, are beautiful — and though in their approach,
they may seem furious and pregnant with destruction, yet there is
no danger, for they come only with salutations for the pilgrim of
the deep, and when they pass her bows or stern retiring backwards,
seem, as from obeisance, to kiss their hands to her in token of
adieu.
Oct. 31. — This day I was gratified with what I had often desired
to witness — the condition of the sea in a tempest. Not that I would
allege curiosity as a sufficient plea for desiring that which can npver
be witnessed without more or less of danger to the spectator ; and
still less, when the gratification exposes others to anxiety and alarm.
Let me be understood, then, as meaning to say that my desire to
witness a storm was not of such a kind as to make me indifferent to
the apprehension which it is calculated to awaken. But aside from
this, there was nothing I could have desired more. I had contem-
plated the ocean in all its other phases — and they are almost in-
numerable. At one time it is seen reposing in perfect stillness under
the blue sky and bright sun. At another, slightly ruffled, and thence
its motion causes liis rays to tremble and dance in broken fragments
of silvery or golden light — and the sight is dazzled by following the
track from whence his beams are reflected — whilst all besides seems
to frown in the darkness ijf its ripple. Again it may be seen some-
what more agitated and of a darker hue, under a clouded sky and
a strong and increasing wind. Then you see an occasional wave,
rising a little above the rest, and crowning its summit, with that
crest of white, breaking from its top and tumbling over like liquid
alabaster. Now as far as the eye can reach, you see the dark ground
of ocean enlivened and diversified by these panoramic snow-hills.
As they approaqh near, and especially if the sun be unclouded, you
see the light refracted through the summit of the wave, in the most
pure, pale green, that it is possible either to behold or imagine. I
had seen the ocean, too, by moonlight, and as much of it as may
be seen in the dark, when the moon and stars are veiled. But
until to-day I had never seen it in correspondence with the tem-
pest.
After a breeze of some sixty hours from the north and north-
west, the wind died away about four o'clock yesterday afternoon.
The calm continued until about nine o'clock in the evening. The
mercury in the barometer fell, in the meantime, at an extrordinary
rate ; and the captain predicted that we should encounter " a gale "
from the southeast. I did not hear the prediction or I should not
have gone to bed. The " gale " came on, however, at about eleven
o'clock ; not violent at first, but increasing every moment. I slept
soundly until after five in the morning, and then awoke with the
confused recollection of a good deal of rolling and thumping through
the night, which was occasioned by the dashing of the waves against
the ship. There was an unusual trampling and shouting — or rather
446 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
screaming on deck, and soon after a crash upon tte cabin flocji-,
followed by one of the most unearthly screams I ever heard. Tae
passengers, taking the alarm, sprang from their berths, and without
^^■aiting to dress, ran about asking questions without waiting for or
receiving any answers. Hurrying on my clothes, I found that the
shriek proceeded from the second steward, who had, by a lurch
of the ship, been thrown, in his sleep, from his sofa, some six feet to
the cabin floor. By this time I found such of the passengers as
could stand at the doors of the hurricane-house, "holding on," and
looking out in the utmost consternation. This, I exclaimed mentally,
is what I wanted, but I did not expect it so soon. It was still quite
dark. Four of the sails were already in ribbons. The winds whistled
throngli the cordage ; the rain dashed furiously and in torrents ; the
noise and spray scarcely less than I found them under the great
sheet .at Niagara. And in the midst of all this, the captain with
his speaking trumpet, the officers, and the sailors, screaming to
each other in efforts to be heard, and mingling their oaths and
curses with the angry voice of the tempest — this, all this, in the
darkness which precedes the dawning of the day, and with the fury
of the liurricane, combined to form as much of the terribly sublime
as I ever wish to witness concentrated in one scene.
The passengers, though silent, were filled with apprehension. ■
What the extent of danger, and how all this would terminate, were
questions which rose in my own mind, although unconscious of fear
or trepidation. But to such questions there were no answers, for
this knowledge resides only with Him who "guides the storm and
directs the whirlwind." We had encountered, however, as yet, only
the commencement of a gale, whose terrors had been heightened by
its suddenness, by the darkness, and by the confusion. It continued
to blow furiously for twenty-four hours ; so that during the whole
day 1 enjoyed a \iew which, apart from its dangers, would be worth
a voyage across the Atlantic. The ship was driven madly through
the raging waters,' and even when it was impossible to walk the
decks without imminent risk of being lifted up and carried away by
the ^^■inds, the jDoor sailors were kept aloft, tossing and swinging
about tlie yards and in the tops, clinging by their bodies, feet and
arms, with mysterious tenacity, to, the spars, v/hile their hands were
employed in taking in and securing sail. On deck the officers and
men made themselves safe by ropes ; but how the gallant fellows
aloft kept from being blown out of the rigging was equally a matter
of wonder and admiration. However, at about seven o'clock they
had taken in what canvas had not blown away, except the sails by
means of which the vessel is kept steady. At nine o'clock the
huri-icane had acquired its full force. There was now no more
work to be done. The ship lay to — and those who had her in charge
only remained on deck to be prepared for whatever of disaster might
occur. The breakfast hour came, and passed, unheeded by most of
the passengers ; though I found my own appetite quite equal to the
spare allowance of a last-day.
VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. 44^
By this time the sea was rolling up its hurricane waves ; and that
I might not lose the grandeur of such a view, I fortified myself
against the rain and spray, in winter overcoat and cork-soled boots,
and in spite of the fierceness of the gale, planted myself in a position
favorable for a survey of all around me, and in safety, so long as
the ship's strong works might hold together. I had often seen paint-
ings of a storm at sea, but here was the original. These imitations
are ol'tentimes graphic and faithful, as far as they go, but they are
necessarily deficient in accompaniments which painting cannot supply,
and are therefore feeble and ineffective. You have, upon canvas, the
ship and the sea, but as they come from the hands of the artist, so
they remain. The universal motion of both are thus arrested and
made stationary. There is no subject in which the pencil of the
painter acknowledges more its indebtedness to the imagination than
in its "attempts to delineate the sea storm. But even could the
attempt be successful, so far as the eye is concerned, there would
still be wanting the rushing of the hurricane, the groaning of the
masts and yards, the quick shrill rattling of the cordage, and the
ponderous dashing of the uplifted deep. All these were numbered
among the advantages of my position, as firmly planted, I opened
eyes and ears, heart and soul, to the beautiful frightfulness of the
tempest around and the ocean above me.
At this time the hurricane was supposed to be at the top of its
fury, and it seemed to me quite impossible for winds to blow
more violently. Our noble ship had been reducfed in the scale of
proportion by this sudden transformation of the elements, iuto di-
mensions apparently insignificant. She had become a mere boat to
be lifted up and dashed down by the caprice of wave after wave.
The weather, especially along the surface of the sea, was thick
and hazy, so much so, that you' could not see more than a mile
in any direction. But within that horizon, the spectacle was one of
majesty and power. Within that circumference, there were moun-
tains and plains, the alternate rising and sinking of which seemed
like the action of some volcanic power beneath. You saw immense
masses of uplifted waters, emerging out of the darkness on one side,
and rushing and tumbling aorpss the valleys that remained after the
passage of their predecessors, until, like them, they rolled away into
similar darkness on the other. These waves were not numerous,
nor rapid in their movements ; but in massiveness and elevation they
were the legitimate offspring of a true tempest. It was this eleva-
^on that imparted the beautifully pale and transparent green to the
billows, from the summit of which the toppling white foam spilled
itself over and came falling down towards you with the dash of a
cataract. Not less magnificent than the waves themselves, were
the varying dimensions 9f the valleys that remained_ between
them. You would expect to see these ocean plains enjoying, as
it were, a moment of repose, but during the hurricane's frenzy this
was not the case. Their waters had lost for a moment the onward
motion of the billows, but they were far from being at rest. They
448 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
preserved tl)e green hues and foamy scarfs of the mighty insurgents
that had passed over them. The angry aspect they presented to
the eye that gazed, almost vertically, upon their boiling eddies,
wheeling about in swift currents, with surface glowing and hissing
as if in contact with heated iron ; all this showed that their depths
were not unvisited by the tempest, but that its spirit had descended
beneath the billows to heave them up presently in all the rushing
convulsive violence of the general commotion. But mountain and
plain, of these infuriated waters, were covered, some on the very
summit, and on the lee " side " of the waves, with the white foam
of the water against which the winds first struck, and which, from
high points, was lifted up into spray ; but in all other places, hurled
along with the intense rapidity of its motion, until the whole pros-
pect, on the lee side of the ship, seemed one field of drifting snow,
dashed along furiously to its dark borders by the howling storm.
In the meantime our ship gathered herself up into the compactness
and buoyancy of a duck — and except the feathers that had been
jslucked from her wings befoi-e she had time to fold her pinions —
she rode out the whirlwind without damage, and in triumph. It
was not the least remarkable, and by far the most comfortable
circumstance, in this combination of all that is grand and terrible,
that, furious as were the winds, towering and threatening as were
the billows, our glorious bark preserved her equilibrium against the
fury of the one, and Jier buoyancy in despite of the alternate prec-
ipice and avalanche of the other. True it is, she was made to
whistle through her cordage, to creak and moan through all her
timbers, even to her masts. True it is, she was made to plunge and
rear, to tremble and reel and stagger ; still she continued to scale
the watery mountain, and ride on its very summit, untU, as it
rolled onward from beneath her, she descended gently on her path-
way, ready to triumph again and again over each succeeding wave.
At such a moment it was a matter of profound deliberation which
most to admire, the majesty of God in the winds and waves, or His
goodness and wisdom in enabling his creatures to contend with and
overcome the elements even in the fierceness of their anger ! To cast
one's eyes abroad in the scene that surrounded me at this moment, and
to think man should have said to himself, " I will build myself an
ark in the midst of you, and ye shall not prevent, my passage —
nay, ye indomitable waves shall bear me up ; and ye winds shall
waft me onward !" And yet there we were in the fullness of this
fearful experiment !
I had never believed it possible for a vessel to encounter such a
hurricane without being dashed or torn to pieces, at least in all her
masts and rigging ; for I am persuaded that had the same tempest
passed as furiously over your town, during the same length of time,
it would have left scarcely a house standing. The yielding character
of the element in which the vessel is launched, is the great secret of
safety on such occasions. Hence when gales occur on the wide
ocean there is but little danger; but when they drive you upon
VOYAGE ACKOSS THE ATLA.XTIC. 449
Ijvealiers on a lee shore, when the keel comes in contact with " the
too solid earth" then it is impossible to escape shipwreck. I never
experienced a sensation of fear on the ocean — but the tempest has
increased my confidence tenfold, not only in the sea but in the ship.
It no longer surprises me that few vessels are lost at sea — for they
and thtir element are made for each other. And the practical con-
c/iinon from this experience of a gale is encouraging for all my future
navigation. I shall have opnfidence in my sliip now, as I have ever
had in the sea. Ever since my eyes first rested on the ocean, I
have cherished an instinctive affection for it, as if it was something
capable of sympathy and benevolence. When calm it is to me a
slumbering infant. (Your own Moses, for instance.) How tranquilly
it sleeps !— no trace of grief or guilt is on its forehead — no trouble
in its bi'east. It is a mirror in which the clear blue sky beholds the
reflection of its brightness and purity.
29
450 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
LETTERS ON THE MORAL CAUSES "WHICH PRO-
DUCED THE EVIL SPIRIT OF THE TIMES.
BISHOP IIDGHES TO MAYOR HAKPEE, IN EEFEUBKCE TO ATTACKS MADE ON
- HIM BY BDITOES OP CEETAIN NBWSPAPBES.
To the Hon. James Harper, Mayor of New Yorlc :
Sib,— I am in the receipt of a letter from a young " Native American," signed
with his proper name, in which he advises me that he has provided himself
with a "poignard," by which I am to " bite the dust." If he had not put his
name to this document, I should have destroyed it, as my rule is with all
anonymous communications, without even glancing at its contents. I cannot
answer such a correspondent ; but placing his letter in your hands, if you wish
It, I shall pursue the tenor of my way, and be found wherever my duties as a
Catholic Bishop and a citizen of the United States require me to be. I hope
that I am at peace with God ; I know that I am at peace, so far as in me lies,
with all men ; and thus I am ready to yield my life into the hands of its
adorable Author, when and as He may dispose.
But if my correspondent should execute his own prophecy as he says, 1
deem it proper to have put on record such matters as are due to my own
reputation, and to my country, at a moment like the present. I shall be some-
what tedious ; but I bespeak your patience — for I wish to say to all, and it
may not be so convenient at another time. I shall use no term of reproach or
bitterness in reference to matters of recent occurrence, on which too many
have already been uttered. No man deplores more deeply the melancholy re-
suits of intemperate discussions, whether on one side or on the other, in a sister
capital, than I do ; and for months past it has been mfy study to avert similar
scenes in this city. From the moment when a new party was commenced,
based on the principles of hostility to a particular religion, and to foreigners,
even though naturalized, I anticipated the results with the deepest apprehen-
sion for the peace of the community and the honor of the country. Not that I
dispute the right of mfen, in ftie abstract, to form themselves into combinations
on any principle which their duty to their country sanctions ; but topics of
this description were, as I conceived, too exciting in their nature. From a
very early period, I prevented the only papers that affect to represent Cath-
olic interests from opposing either of the principles in the progress of the
new party. When the private interest, or enterprise of individuals, urged
them to establish newspapers, intended expressly to oppose the progress of
" Native Americanism," and to uphold the constitutional rights of foreign-
ers of all religions, I peremptorily refused to give either patronage or ap-
probation— foreseeing, as I imagined, to what jDoint such antagonism must
lead. I even caused certain articles to be published, which should fall
under the eye of a large portion of my own flock, and which might caution
them against the temptation of retaliating insult in arraying themselves in
opposition to the principles of this new party. I caused them thus to be
reminded that, if those principles were wrong, time and the good sense of
the community would be the best remedy ; whilst Catholics, and, above all,
the Irish Catholics, were entirely unfitted to apply a corrective. I had the
consolation to witness the good effects of this advice, so that boys and
young men could march even in the night, through streets almost entirely
occupied by Irish Catholics, with fife and drum, with illuminated banners,
bearing such inscriptions as that of " No Popbbv" as a public and political
device ! It is not for me to say whether the Native American party had, or
had not, a right to adopt such devices, and display them through such a
population. But even supposing they had the right, was there not some-
LETTER TO MAYOE HAEPEE. 451
thing due to the weakness of poor human nature ? to the religious rights
and feelings of men, under our Constitution? to the peculiar susceptibility
of the Irish, and especially in reference to this identical subject, which re-
minded them of the hereditary degradation from which they thought to
have escaped when they touched these shores?
Iain grateful to Almighty God, that notwithstanding these injudicious
exhibitions, no accident or disturbance has occurred during the progress of
the movements which have placed you in your present honorable station.
And I would to God 1 that under all provocation, a similar forbearance had
been practiced in Philadelphia. Yet, notwithstanding all ray solicitude and
efforts, so feverish and morbid, so bewildered and diseased, had the public
mind become, in certain quarters, on the subject of Popeky, that a lie of not
more than iive lines, circulated through any of our papers which might
desire to create riots, would have been sufficient to have produced the most
fearful results.
My name and character were assailed in every public meeting of your
special constituents. I was abused as a politician; — as a meddler with the
laws ; — as an intriguer with parties ; and a man not only capable, but actu-
ally designing to invade the liberties of the country. The fearful crisis,
which I claim the merit of having prevented, in this city, but which has left
its melancholy stigma in another city, equally dear to me, has rendered
these calumnies against my character so important, that I now meet my
accusers in the 'triumphant manner which you will see, before the close of
this conamunicatioD. But before I enter further upon my subject, I must
tell you a few words respecting myself, which, being of so little importance
to the public at large, I shall make as brief as possible. It is twenty-seven
years since I came to this country. I became a citizen, therefore, as soon as
my majority of age and other circumstances permitted. My early ancestors
Were from Wales ; and very possibly shared with Strongbow and his com-
panions, in th^ plunder which rewarded the first successful invaders of lovely
but unfortunate Ireland. Of course, from the time of their conversion from
Paganism, they were Catholics. You, sir, who must be acquainted with the
■ melancholy annals of religious intolerance in Ireland, may remember that,
when a traitor to his country, and for what I know, to his creed also,
M'Mahon, Prince of Monnaghan, wished to make his peace with the Irish
Government of Queen Elizabeth, the traitor's work which he volunteered
to accomplish was " to root out the whole Sept of the Hughes.'''' He did not,
however, succeed in destroying them, although he "rooted them out;"
proving, as a moral for future times, tliat persecution cannot always accom-
plish what it proposes. In the year 1817, a descendant of the Sept of the
Hughes came to the United States of America. He was the son of a farmer
of moderate but comfortable means. lie landed on these shores friendless,
and with but a few guineas in his purse. He never received of the charity
of any man; he never borrowed of any man without repaying; he never
had more than a few dollars at a time ; he never had a patron, in the Church
or out of it ; and it is he who has the honor to address you now, as Catholic
Bishop of New York.
I am aware that a certain lady, who writes for one of the Boston papers, has
given both her own name and mine, in connection with the statement that I
" entei>ed the service of Bishop Dubois as a gardener, and that he having dis-
covered in me the stuff which bishops and cardinals are made of, with intellect
enough to have governed the Church in its most prosperous times, educated
me on the strength of this discovery." I would just remark, with all respect
for this amiable, but as I must say, silly lady, that she is mistaken, and exhibits
only the ''stuff the Boston papers are made of" My connection with Bishop
Dubois was in virtue of a regular contract between us, in which neither was
452 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
required to acknowledge any obligation to the other. I, however, felt tlat the
kindness of that venerable and saintly prelate, and the friendship which
included me with so many other young men to whom it was extended.
I entered the college the first day, an utter stranger to Bishop Dubois until
then. I was to superintend the garden as a compensation for my expensed
in the house, until a vacanoj should occur by which I might be appointed a
teacher. for such classes as I should be fit to take charge of. I continued in
this way, during the first nine months of my stay at college, prosecuting my
studies under a private preceptor. The rest of my time, between seven and
eight years, I continued to prosecute my own studies, and, at the same time,
to teach the classes that were assigned me. At tlie end of that period I
was ordained priest, and stationed in Pliiladelphia. Here my public life
commenced. After eleven years from this time, I was sent, not by my own
choice, to be the Assistant-Bishop of New York. I had formed, during
these years, friendships ever to be cherislied in many of the most respectable
families, Protestant as well as Catholic, in Philadelphia. I refer to them,
without distinction of creed, for what was my character as a clergyman and
a citizen.
If, sir, you will weigh all these circumstances, you will perceive imme-
diately that, were I a person of the character assigned to me in the late de-
nunciations of those who assail me, it is hardly probable that I should be
now occupying, by the judgment of others, the situation in which I am
placed. I am a citizen. I understand the rights of a citizen, and the du-
ties also. I understand the genius, the constitution, and history of the
country. My feelings, and habits, and thoughts have been so much iden-
tified with all that is American, that I had almost forgotten I was a for-
eigner, until recent circumstances have brought it too painfully to my
recollection. This, and other matters yet to be treated of, must be my
apology for bringing into public notice anything so uninteresting as my per-
sonal history or private affairs. The retrospect, however, has brought back
to my mind the recollections of youth. I perceived, then, that the intolerance
of my own country had left me no inheritance, except that of a name
which, though humble, was untarnished. In the future, the same intoler-
ance was a barrier to every hope in my native land ; and there was Init one
other country in •which I was led to believe the rights and privileges of
citizens rendered all men equal. I can even now remember my reflections
on first beholding the American flag. It never crossed my mind that a
time might come when that flag, the emblem of the freedom just alluded to,
should be divided, by apportioning its stars to the citizens of native birth, and
its stripes only as the portion of the naturalized foreigner. I was, of course,
but young and inexperienced ; and yet, even recent events have not dimin-
ished my confidence in that ensign of civil and religious liberty. It is pos-
sible that I was mistaken ; but still I cling to the delusion, if it be one, and
as I trusted to that flag on a Nation's faith, I think it more likely that its
stripes will disappear altogether ; and that before it shall be employed as
an instrument of bad faith towards the foreigners of every land, tlje white
portions will llush into crimson ; and then the glorious stars alone will
remain.
Since my arrival in New York, my public and private life has been de-
voted sedulously to the duties of my station. One of the first things that
.struck me, as a deplorable circumstance in the condition of my flock, was
the ignorance and vice to which the children of Catholic and emigrant pa-
rents were exposed. I had the simplicity to believe that, in endeavoring
to elevate them to virtue and usefulness through the means of education, I
should be at once rendering a service to them, and discharging a duty to
my country, the latter of which, especially, would be appreciated by good
LETTER TO MATOE HARPER. 453
men of all creeds. I intended to take such measures as miglit bo necessary
for tins purpose on my return from Europe, in the year 1840, without, how-
ever, having exchanged, so far as I recollect, opinions with any one on that
subject. But I found, on my return, that it had been sufflcieut to attract
the attention of the public authorities, and had become a public topic in
the annual Messdge of the Governor of this State. I found, also, that lilco
other topics of that date, it was instantly turned into a political question,
even by the people who had not — though most interested — the discernment
to understand the patriotism and humanity, by which it had been dictated.
Meetings had been held upon the subject; intemperate language had been
usedj disorder, and almost amounting to violence, had characterized tliose
meetings; and for these reasons I resolved to attend them in person — •
expressly for the purpose of keeping out an unfortunate class of political
underlings, who had been accustomed to traffic in their simplicity. In
these meetings, held from time to time, the question was discussed— the
imperfect education afforded by our own charity schools — the vast num-
bers that could not be received at them, and would not be sent to the
schools by the Public School Society — on account of the strong anti-
Catholic tendencies which they manifested, through the medium of objec-
tionable books, prejudiced teachers, and sectarian influences. This was
followed by a respectful petition to the Common Council of the city. Be-
fore that Council I was permitted to state the grievances complained of
A discussion took place, growing out of remonstrances against the petition,
and it was finally rejected by almost a unanimous vote. This the portion
of the people who considered themselves aggrieved in the matter had
anticipated. But this was necessary — before submitting the case to
the Legislature of the State. In due time, however, petitions were for-
warded, signed by a lai-ge number of citizens, botli Catholics and
Protestants, natives as well as foreigners. The prayer of this petition
was received favorably, because it seemed to be but reasonable and
just. A ))ill to remedy the evil was drawn up, I think, by the Superin-
tendent of Schools, and, if I am not mistaken, passed the House of Kepre-
sentatives. It was at the close of the session, and lost in the other House.
Of the fitness of its provisions to remedy the evil I am altogether unable to
speak ; but it was believed by all that the Legislature, as soon as it could
understand the nature of the grievance, and the necessity for a remedy,
would not fail to remove the one and provide for the other. Accordingly,
the question, notwithstanding the many folds of misrepresentation and
prejudice in which its numerous opponents endeavored to involve it, was
making much progress in the public mind. Meetings continued to be hold
from time to time, with open doors and free admission. Protestants as
well as Catholics attended, and sometimes took part. I attended them all,
expressly for the purpose of seeing that politics should not be introduced.
Matters thus progressed, — the advocates of the measure being divided, ac-
cording to their predilections, between one party and another. But the
opponents of the measure, in the meantime, — numerous and zealous as
they were, — ^had not been idle, but had presented the question to the pub-
lic in every false light that ingenuity could devise, as may be seen by re-
ferring to whole pages of their calumnies, at that time, about an "Union
of Church and State," &c., which have been refuted and forgotten. Just
previons to the election, when, as it appears, parties had made tbeir nomi-
iiations for the Legislature, the opponents of education (except with in-
fringement of conscience) called upon the voters of both parties to send no
one to Albany unless such as should give a pledge, before election, to re-
fuse the prayer of the petitioners. For this fact, I refer to the editorials
of that date of the Commercial Advertiser and the Journal of Commerce,
454 AKCHBISIIOP HUGHES.
amon^ other papers of the city. This plan was acted upon inutantly, and
to an extent which left the petitioners no alternative but to vote for men
pledged in their face to refuse what they regarded as simple justice.
Hence, in spite of all my efforts to prevent, the question forced itself in a
political form on the attention of the people, who claimed one thing—
namely, education — without another thing— namely, the violation of their
conscience, — but which the Commercial Advertiser and its allies would
not allow to be separated.
The very last meeting of tlie friends of education, previous to the elec-
tion, was the moment when this unworthy stratagem came under public
attention. A number of individuals, who were versed in these matters,
had, however, taken the precaution to ascertain, that certain candidates
had refused to sign the pledge ; and were ready to go to Albany free to
vote for the prayer of the petitioners, or against it, as their own sense of
justice towards their constituents might dictate. Others had already given
their promise against it. Those persons then suggested that names, with-
out any hopes of election, but simply to exercise the right of voting on,
should be substituted to make up the deficiency. I claimed it as my right.
I regarded it as my duty, on that occasion to urge those who were friendly
to a large portion of the neglected children of New York, to vote for no
man who had pre-judged their case, in the hope of being elected ; and who
had bound himself to refuse them the protection of the laws, whatever
might be the justice of their case. My argument was this — urged with all
the limited jjon ers of reasoning that I possessed — that they deserved the
injustice and degradation "of which they complained, if they voled for
judges publicly pledged beforehand to pass sentence against them. Of
course, in a speech of some twenty minutes, I must liave developed this
argument, and presented it in every variety of form, capable of making it
understood, and pointing out the more liberal attitude of those who, as not
being pledged in favor of either side, were left free, to do impartial justice
in the premises. If this was a political speech, then have I made one
political speech in my life. There were high-minded, well educated, and
honorable Protestant gentlemen present, and to whom I appeal with con-
fidence, that — twisted or turned by perverse ingenuity as it might be,
my speech amounted to the principle just laid down — to the development
of it, and nothing more. But there was'a reporter of Bennett's there, who
made such a speech as he thought proper — whicl^ was afterwards, as I have
reason to believe, fitted up for the purpose of producing one of Bennett's
" tremendous excitements," and making the " ' Herald,' always the first and
most enterprising paper in New York." Having taken this report — having
studded ii with the gems of his own ribaldry, and made some half a column
of editorial comments, in all that mock gravity of which Bennett is capable,
the " Herald" of the next morning became the lasis ^nA fountain of all the
vituperation, calumny, and slander, which have been heaped on " Bishop
Hughes," through the United States, from that day until this. From the
" Herald V the report wag copied into the " Commercial Advertisers" of that
afternoon — the editor. Colonel Stone, taking special care to substitute the
words a " morning print," instead of Bennett's " Herald," lest his own views
of the question might be injuriously affected by the character of his autiior-
ity, if that authority were known. Then followed the commentaries and
columns of abuse which filled the other papers, and ran throughout the
country, each editor adding (parlicularly while the delusion lasted) his own
editorial for the Iseneflt of his readers.
I must, however, do several of the city papers the justice to say, that
either they are more honest or better informed, than their colleagues of the
press ; they understood the question, and declined to take any part in flie
LETTEE TO MAYOE HAEPEE. 455
hue and cry that was so malignantly raised about it. It is equally due to
truth to say also, that several others after they had discovered their mis-
take, retreated from the position which they had first assumed. But the
occasion was too good for the purpose of certain parties, not to be improv-
ed for their ulterior designs. Accordingly, as the occupants of many of
the pulpits of the city had entertained their congregations with politicnl
sermons on the School Question, for months before, — so also, for months
after, whatever might be their text from the Bible, the abuse of tlie Catho-
lic religion under the nickname of papacy, together with all the slang, and
all the calumnies famished by the New York Herald, the Commercial Ad-
vertiser, the Journal of Commerce, and other papers of that stamp, ^^•as sure
to make the body of the sermon. By this process the minds of the people
were excited, their passions inflamed, their credulity imposed upon, and
their confidence perverted. Then came the new party. It is impossible
that the training of the pulpits should not have predisposed a large num-
ber of persons to join in the movement, which they had been taught to be-
lieve as a duty of their religion. Who can read without horror the denun-
ciations, the slanders, the infuriated appeals, which have been spoken and
written ; in which Heaven and earth have been mingled together in a con-
fusion of rhetoric and passion, to promote the objects of this new combina-
tion. It has succeeded in our city, and I for one am not sorry at it. But
at the same time, if that portion of the citizens who have been so atro-
ciously abused, had not had the good sense, the patriotism, the love of
order, \Aich enabled them to restrain themselves, even under the greatest
insults that can be oflFered to the feelings of men, it is impossible to tell
what might have been the consequence. Closing, then, this sketch of the
question in sO much as it relates to others, I shall now call your attention
to something which is personal to myself.
Sir, I pretend, and I think I shall be able to prove to you, that these
slanders, originating in Bennett's Herald^ the Commercial Advertiser, the
Journal of Commerce, the New TorTc Sun, and for a moment, (but for a
moment,) the Eveninq Post— that these slanders,— repeated, embellished,
enlarged, and evangelized from many of the pulpits of the city — that these
sfanders, re-echoed in the public lectures of the Rev. Mr. Cheever and other
clergymen of his spirit — that these slanders forming the staple of political
excitement in the association which placed you in the honorable chair you
occupy, and which, I am happy to say, as far as I know, you are worthy to
fill,-— I think I shall be abl^ to prove that all these slanders, I say, were,
and are, and will be to eternity, slanders, and ijothing more. You, of
course, will be astonished at reading this declaration. You will think it
impossible that so many respectable editors, so many eloquent orators, and,
above all, so many grave and reverend divines, should have united in de-
ceiving the people of New York,— from the press, from the rostrum, from
the pulpit,— by denouncing Bishop Hughes as an enemy of the Bible— as
an intriguer with political parties— as a blackoner of the public school
books,— if Bishop Hughes had not given them cause to build such accusa-
tions in the foundations of truth,— and yet, sir, there is no truth either in the
foundation or the superstructure. I now call upon these editors, orators
and clergymen to stand forth and furnish the facts, proving the truth of
one single charge against me. I am aware that, tracing up these falsehoods
to their foundation, the public, who have been so long deceived, will refer
to the testimony and the denunciations of certain clergymen, who are zeal-
ous for the Bible, but unfortunately little acquainted with the charitable
and mild spirit which the Bible inculcates. If I ask them why they 'rais-
in, possibly without intending it, their flocks to such an extent, they will
refer me to the public newspapers. If I call on the editors of the public
456 ARCIIBISEOP HUGHES.
newspapeis, it will be found tliat they copied one fiom another, until yon
reach the second link, who is Colonel Stone, of the Commercial Advertiser,
and he will tell me that he took it from a " morning print," that print be-
ing no other than Bennett's Herald. Of course this does not touch tlie
original articles in the Commercial Advertiser, less scurrilous, )5ut more
injurious than those of Bennett himself, inasmuch as Colonel Stone is
looked upon as a highly respectable man. Of the Journal of Commerce I
shall say nothing, as its editor appears to me laboring under a weakness or
duplicity of moral vision, for the effects and defects of which he is, per-
haps, scarcely accountable. But I have traced these caluumies now to
their primary witnesses — James Gordon Bennett and Wm. L. Stone.
It may be asked — in the supposition here made^why I submitted in
silence to these slanders for so long a time. My answers are, in the iirst
place, that my duties left me but little time to attend to them. Secondly,
that if I refuted one calumny to-day, I should have to refute another to-
morrow. Thirdly, that one class of my editorial assailants was what men
usually call too contemptible, and another class too bigoted, to make it
worth while. But I confess that the principal reason in my mind was the
very honorable philosophy of an observation which I heard many years
ago of the late estimable Bishop "White, in Philadelphia. His remark
was to this effect, that such is the character of the American people, that
no man, who takes care to be always in the right, can ever ultimately be
put down by calumny — whatever may be its temporary effects. This was
his answer, and his plea for the licentiousness of the press in its attacks
upon individuals. And hence he inferred that, owing to the love of justice
and fair play, which he conceived to be a strong element of the American
character, every honest man can easily afford to " live down " a calumny.
This remark struck me very much at the time ; and wherever the question
became merely personal to myself, I have invariably acted .on the prin-
ciple— whilst my own experience, of now nearly twenty years, of public
life, has only confirmed its soundness and its truth. These are my reasons
for having allowed the calumnies against Bishop Hughes to remain so long
uncontradicted ; whilst I never let an opportunity pass of meeting, and ex-
posing and refuting, the misrepresentations which were directed against
the civil and religious rights of that portion of our citizens to whom I
wished to see extended the blessings of education.
It has been a matter of speculation among many in this city, to solve the
motive for the constant, the varying, malignity of Mr. Bennett against
Bishop Hughes. Some have supposed that he was kept in bribe for the
purpose ; — others have ascribed it to revenge ; — which, though strong, is
said to be in slavish subjection to avarice — in that man's breast. But of all
whose opinion has reached me upon the subject, there is not one who be-
lieves it to be gratuitous. I express no opinion on the subject myself. I
shall enter no abuse of this unfortunate man ; but as those who are inclined
to believe that he is actuated by revenge, have told me that he ascribes the
reception he met with from Daniel O'Connell to my agency, and as I do not
deem it necessary that even he should be under a mistake on that subject,
I will assign what I look upon as the key of explanation to the somewhat
rude treatment which he received in a land celebrated for its hospitality,
and where every decent man, from America especially, is received with a
full heart of Irish welcome. I will make a little episode in this communi-
cation, but I have no doubt that this fact, at least, will be interesting not
only to .the public in America, but also in Great Britain, and all Europe.
Four years ago I was introduced to Daniel O'Connell, in London. This
was at my own request, for I wished, having then the opportunity, to sej a
man of whom there was more of good and evil said than of any other in
LETTEE TO MATOE HAEPEE. 45 T
Hie world. A few minutes after I sat down, and whilst the conversation
was on mere c >mmon-place topics, a silence ensued on his part, sufficiently
long to make me think that I ought to retire. I observed his eyes swim-
ming in tears. This astonished me still more, and I was about to with-
draw, when he addressed me ; as nearly as I can remember, in the follow-
ing words — but in a voice which, though almost stifled with grief, yet
sounded as the softest and tenderest that ever struck upon my cars : " Dr.
Hughes, I have been forty years a public man — I have been engaged in
political strife with men of every party and of every creed — I am, by all
odds, the best abused man in the world, but through all this time neither
Tories, nor Whigs, nor even Orangemen themselves, ever made an attack
on the mother of my children. She was mild and gentle ; she was meek
and charitable. She was loved and respected by friend and foe. My
bitterest enemies would have spared me, if they could not reach me, with-
out hurting the lamb that slept in my bosom. The only attack that ever
was made on Mrs. O'Connell, came from your side of the water and from
your city, in a paper called the ' New Yorh Morning Herald.'' , Some mis-
taken friend, I suppose, thought to do me a service by sending me the
paper. It reached me just after Mrs. O'Connell's death. Of course, the
poisoned arrow missed the gentle heart for which it was intended, but it
reached and rested in mine." Mr. Bennett was not married when he wrote
this attack on the amiable wife and mother ; but those who are husbands
and fathers can best judge, whether Mr. O'Connell's reception of him at the
Corn Exchange was merited or not. Whether O'Connell's is the only heart
that has been wounded, by the " poisoned arrow " ainred at the domestic
peace of mankind, from the same quarter, it is unnecessary for me to say.
But, at all events, I think this will satisfy Bennett, that I, at least, had
nothing to do with the kind of reception he met with in Dublin. What
the motive, then, of his hostility towards me is, I am of course still at a
loss to comprehend ; butjn truth it has given me very little uneasiness. In
the hypothesis that he has been bribed to abuse nie, I presume that a coun-
ter-bribe would at once double his profits, diminish his labor, and secure
his silence ; but I cannot afford it, and even if I could, it should not be
given. Now, however, I am going to meet Mr. James Gordon Bennett, not
in abuse, but as my accuser, and with Mr. Bennett as my first accuser, I as-
sociate Colonel Wiljiam Stone as my second. Let these, by name, represent
the whole class of editors, orators, and Eev. Divines who have assailed
me, and now I am prepared to meet them all.
Either Bishop Hughes has entered into a collusion as a politician, with
political agents, or he has not.
Either he has driven or attempted to drive the Bible from the common
schools of New York, or he has not.
Either he has organized a political party in New York— or he has not.
Either has blsickened, or required to be blackened, the public school-
books of New York, or he has not.
Finally, either he has done actions and expressed sentiments unworthy
of a Christian bishop, and an American citizen, or he has not.
These are propositions which the plainest capacity is competent to un-
derstand. And, now, taking Bishop White's estimate of the American
character, I am about to constitute the American people, Whigs, Democrats,
Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Gentiles, citizens both of native and foreign
birth, as judges between James Gordon Bennett, and Colonel William L.
Stone, on the one side, and Bishop Hughes on the other. I shall not an-
ticipate the judgment of the public. I shall merely say that I believe it
will be just, and justice is all that I require. Happily the dispute is one in
which sophistry and misrepresentation cannot find place. It is a question
458 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
of facts, itad against facts, reasoning is useless. Every fact, to be susceptible
of proof, requires witnesses who can bear testimony to its truth. Wherevei
there are witnesses in a case, the thing testified to can be established as
liaving occurred at some given time and place. In a court of justice, if a
man swore that he witnessed the occurrence of a fact, and yet could not
tell either the time or the place of the occurrence, he would be set aside
either as perjuring himself, or as being deranged. Let my case then be
judged by these established rules of common and public justice. Iwill
state my own conduct, as far as it has any bearing on the case, in a series
of propositions and in the form of facts.
1st Proposition.— I have never, in my life, done an action, or uttered a
sentiment, tending to abridge any human being of all or any of the rights
of conscience which I claim to enjoy myself under the American Consti-
tution.
3d. — I have never asked nor wished that any denomination should be
deprived of the Bible, or such version of the Bible as that denomiaation
conscientiously approved, in our Common or Public Schools.
3d. — I have never entered into intrigue or collusion with any political
party or individual ; and no political party or individual ever approached
me with so insulting a proposition.
4th. — I have never requested or authorized the " blackening of the public
school books" in the city of New York.
5th. — In all my public life in New York, I have done no action, uttered
no sentiment, unworthy, of a Christian Bishop and an American citizen.
These are all negative propositions ; and I am not bound to prove a neg-
ative ; but I assert these propositions as./acfe, and if they are not true, James
Gordon Bennett, Wm. L. Stone, and the other assailants of my character,
must be in possession of the positive facts which prove them false. Let
them state the time, and place, where the facts which prove them false
occurred ; and the witnesses of those facts — and then, I join issue, and
pledge myself to reflite their witnesses. I shall now continue my proposi-
tions, not in the negative, but in the affirmative form.
6th Proposition. — I have always contended for the right of conscience,
for all men as universally as they are recognized in the American Consti-
tution.
7th. — I have always preached that every denomination — Jews, Chris-
tians, Catholics, Protestants, of every sect and shade — were all entitled to
the entire enjoyment of the freedom of conscience, without let or hindrance
from any other denomination, or set of denominations, no matter how small
their number, or how unpopular the doctrines they professed.
8th. — I have always preached, both publicly and privately, the Christian
obligation of peace and good will towards men, even when they bate and
persecute us.
9th. — I have been accustomed to pray publicly, in our churches,! for the
constituted authorities of the United States ; for the welfare of my fellow-
citizens of all denominations, and without distinction ; whilst James Gor-
don Bennett and Wm. L. Stone were, from day to day, exciting the hatred
of my fellow-citizens against me, and, so far, attempting to deprive me of
the protection of my country.
These affirmative propositions I am bound and prepp,red to prove, if Mr.
Bennett and Col. Stone deny them. All the propositions are facts, and
are to be overthrown, if assailed at all, not by sophistry or argument, but
by other facts, with witnesses, which will p*ove them untrue. Now, there-
fore, James Gordon Bennett, Wm. L. Stone, and ye other deceivers of tlie
public, stand forth and meet Bishop Hughes. But, then, come forth in no
quibbling capacity; come forth as honest men, as true American citizens,
LETTEE TO 3IAT0K HARPER. 469
with trutli in your hearts, and candor on your lips. I know you can write
well — and can multiply words and misrepresent truth : this is not the
thing that will serve you now. Come forth with your pacts. Bishop
Hughes places himself in the simple panoply of an honest man, before the
American people. He asks not fa'vor — but he simply asks, whether the
opinion of Bishop White is true, that with the American people no man
can be put down by calumny. Bring, therefore, your facts to disprove the
foriigoing negati'oe propositions. Bishop Hughes pledges himself to prove
those that are affirmative, if you, or any decent man, with his signatui'e
will deny them.
You may, indeed, say that what Bishop Hughes found it his duty to do,
produced, at the tiuis,, disturhance among politicians; you may pretend
that, therefore. Bishop, Hughes is a politician. If you think so, it only
proves that you are bad logicians. As well might, you say that the man
who has a purse is morally guilty of the crime of robbery which deprives
him of it, on the plea that if he had either stayed at home or gone out
with empty pockets, the robbery would not have taken place. I never
was, I never will be, a politician. I am the pastor of a Christian flock ; I
am a citizen of a country whose proudest boast is, that it has made the
civil and religious rights of all its citizens equal. As a pastor, I was bound
to see that the religious rights of my flock should not be filched away from
them, under pretext of education, and against the constitution and laws of
my country. I attended the meetings in reference to that subject, not as a
politician, but to exclude nien of that class from turning a simple question
into a base object. When, in the prosecution of that purpose, no alterna-
tive was left to the people long deprived of the rights of education but to
vota for candidates, bound by pledges to deny them justice, and even re-
fuse them a hearing — and this on the very eye of the election-yl urged
them, with all the powers of my mind and heart, to repel the disgusting
indignity of this stratagem. I told them to cut their way through this
circle of fire, with which the opponents of the rights of education narrow-
mindedly and ungenerously surrounded them. ,1 told them that they
would be signing and sealing their own degradation if they, voted for men
pledged to refuse them the chance of justice. But then no party — no indi-
vidual of any party — had anything to do with the prompting of this ad-
vice, but myself. It sprang from my own innate sense of duty— my own
conception of the rights of constituency in a free government.
Even if it had been political, I should have done nothing more than is
dene by clergymen of other denominations without exciting the least cen-
sure or surprise. Let a stranger drop in, accidentally, to some of our re-
ligious conventions, composed almost entirely of clergymen, and, listening
for an hour to the debates, he will be tempted to imagine them a comniit-
tee of Congress deliberating upon the deepest and most perplexing topics
of a political character, involving even the integrity of the country. Let
him sit beneath one of our pulpits, and, with the omission of a few party
names, he will suppose himself listening to some political leader, whose
solicitude for the welfare of the country is so great that the virtues of the
Christian religion, and man's relations towards God and eternity, are for-
gotten in the higher importance of promoting the interests of the nation.
If he turn his steps in another direction, he will imagine that religion,
driven from the pulpits, has fled to the political rostrum for protection ;
and he will see the Holy Bible itself erected, or, I should say, rather, de-
graded into a party ensign ! These things are going on in the midst of us
and around us. I do not take upon me to say whether these things are
right or wrong ; but I do say that if these things are lawful in the minis-
ters of one denomination, I, as the minister pf another, ought to sta,nd ac-
460 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
quitied of blame in merely defending the rights of conicionce and of edu-
cation, by means which the laws of God sanction, which the laws of my
country authorize and approve. These things, sir, I have written whilst
under the threat of assassination. These things are true. They may as-
sail Bishop Hughes in the public press ; they may assail him in the pulpit ;
they may assail him in the public assembly ; they may proscribe and per-
secute him as they please : but neither living nor dead, I trust, will
they be able to fix upon his name the stigma of one act, or of one sen-
timent unworthy of what he claims to be, — a minister of the Christian and
Catholic religion, and a citizen of the United States. In entering upon the
discussion of education, I supposed that I should be supported by the
countenance of all good men, as the friend of my country. You said that
the Catholics, particularly those of Irish birth, were ignorant, and, as a
consequence of ignorance, disorderly. I wish them to become educated,
and as a consequence, orderly. "Was this wrong ? Do you say they have
no right to be educated ? The laws have more honorably thought, and
more wisely, too, decided that they have a right. Do you say that in be-
ing educated they must give up their religious convictions? The laws
sanction no such dangerous principle.
A few words more in reference to those who have so long and unjustly
assailed me, and I shall have done. And ilrst of all, I can say with truth,
that there is not an unforgiving thought in my mind in reference to any
of them. Many of them may have been deceived; and, although, in the
melancholy events which have occurred, an awful responsibility rests upon
those who have been guilty of the deception— stiU even them I leave to the
merciful but just judgment of the Creator. Of them all I have not deemed
it necessary to mention more than two — and toward these I have not an
unkind<feeling. But this shall not prevent my saying what is necessary to
put myself and them right before the public. These two are James Gor-
don Bennett and W_m. L. Stone. Of Mr. Stone I have little to say. It is
not for me to enter into any analysis of a character so well known as his,
and so generally respected. Neither shall I enquire into the motives
which could have prompted him, through apparent zeal for his own relig-
ion or hostility to mine, to have put himself in the company and in the
position in which this letter exhibits him.
Of Ml-. Bennett I have a far different opinion. Considering his talents,
his want of principle, and the power of doing mischief which circumstan-
ces have placed within his reach, I regard him as decidedly the most danger-
ous man, to the peace and safety of a community, that I have ever known, or
read of This opinion is formed on grounds altogether distinct from his
peculiar enmity toward myself But, confining the proof of my observa-
tion to what has occurred within my own knowledge and experience, I
have but to call the reader's attention to a few facts.
When the public press had recovered a little from the shock produced
by his burlesque report, and malignant comment on the occurrence at Oar-
roll Hall, there was, of course, that reaction which is indicative of candid
minds and just feelings. This operated as a rebuke to the author of the
deception, but he would not be foiled. He then represented, that a laro^e
portion of the respectable Catholics of New York were unanimous in their
censure of my conduct. He fomented what was termed an indignation
meeting, of persons calling themselves Catholics— but who were little known
in their <;hurches, as such— persons who affected to be first-rate Irishmen,
and almost furious Catholics, once or twice a year, generally a week or ten
days before an election, in the hope of receiving some contemptible little
oflice which might save them from the necessity of honest but honorable
industry. During the discussion of the School Question I, without being
LETTER TO IIAYOE HAEPEK. 461
aware of it, had destroyed their influence; and Bennett, judging correctly
ot' their discontent, thought to use them for the purpose of sowing division
in the flock committed to my charge. He was foiled in this, too. But
nothingdaunted, I next discovered him in the sanctuary itself like the
serpent in Paradise— endeavoring to sow discord among my clergy, and to
seduce tvvo of them, even by name, into alienation from their duty to God,
and towards their bishoiD, In this, too, he was foiled, and publicly re-
buked from their own pens for his audacity. I know not what purposes
of revenge mortification like this may have engendered in the mind of
such a man as Mr. Bennett; but the public are witnesses of the malignity
with which he has not ceased to pursue me up to this hour. If he were
even more depraved or less despised, he would not be so dangerous; but,
being without any fixed principle of good, he occupies that ambiguous
position which renders him too contemptible for notice, and yet not suf-
ficiently so to be below the power of mischief If you notice his slanders,
and convict him of them, people will say that you lose your labor ; inas-
much as "nobody believes what Bennett says." If you do not, your
enemies will take that up as undeniable — asserted in the newspapers — or,
as Colonel Stone adroitly expressed it, " taken from a morning print."
Such is a portion oimy experience of the danger to the community, from
the powers of sowing discord and producing evil, no less than that of
winging the " poisonous arrow" into the hearts of families, possessed by
Mr. Bennett. How he has ever employed these powers, others, who have
had similar experience, need not be told. Yet dangerous and degraded as
he is, I shall meet him for once, if he dares to give his name in contradict-
ing any one of the above propositions, which I have laid down as so many
facts. And if he do not dare to meet me then I consign him to a lower
depth of infamy than he has yet reached. There is one other matter, how-
ever, which I cannot pass over in silence ; and it is that, during the polit-
ical excitement, carried to a high and dangerous pitch, among those who
have made you, sir, Mayor of New York, no man was so active in fanning
the embers of social and civil discord into a conflagration of fury, as Mr.
Bennett. I am not a politician ; but I profess to know something of the
laws as well as the v/eakness and depravity of human nature, and one of its
moral laws is, that whenever there is a combination for the puipose of de-
nouncing any particular class of men, the effect will be to drive the assailed
into combination also. This was the effect which I dreaded, among the
Catholic people of New York, whether of native or foreign origin. And
whilst I was laboring as I have already described to defeat this result, Mr.
Bennett was flinging among them, as a firebrand, the denunciations that
were uttered in the meetings of the Native Americans. Not only were
these denunciations against myself, but against the Catholic churches of
the city. I remember the proceedings of one meeting in particular, as re-
ported in the " Herald ;" I recollect distinctly the speech of one orator who
with violent gestures proclaimed " that there were dungeons under St.
Patrick's Cathedral, And that these could he intended for no other jiurpose
than the imprisonment and torture of the Prutestant ministers of the city,
when the Catholics gained the ascendancy."' I quote the substance, if not
the wery language of the report. Since your election, I have been told that
the whole of this meeting and this atrocious language was a fabrication of
Bennett's own ! But how were the Catholics of the city to know this ?
You, sir, who must know something of -human nature, need not be
informed that in all social outbreaks, particularly of a riotous character,
the moral incendiary first fires the passion, and then, the victims of those
inflamed passions are prepared to apply the torch or wield the murderous
instrument against the objects of their fury. Read again, if you please,
4G2 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
the passage above quoted, proceeding from a meeting of Native Americans,
published in 20,000 or 30,000 copies of the Herald, and cast forth on the
population of the city, at a time of extraordinary excitement and deplo-
rable bitterness of feeling ; be pleased to read it again, I say, and weighmg
these circumstances, m^ke up your mind as to the effects which it was
calculated, if not intended, to produce. It was calculated to destroy social
confidence — produce feelings of rage on one side and of revenge on the
other; and among the least enlightened portion of the community of all
sides, to produce that welling up of bad passions which an additional di'op
might have caused to overflow, breaking down every barrier, and leaving
our fair city a scene of desolation, such as perhaps the world has never seen
before. If the American republicans held this language, are they not utterly
inexcusable? but if they did not hold it, and if it was a fabrication of Ben
iiett's own in their name, then, sirj have I not said well, that he is the most
dangerous man to the peace of thfi comn)unity that I liave ever known or
ever read of? If during the crisis through which we have passed, one spark
had been produced from the etnbers of strife which this man was fanning — if,
owing to the insults on one side, and the instinct of mingled self-preservation
and revenge on the other — a collision had taken place, and all who had been
inflamed on either side, feeling called upon, should rush to the support of
their friends, I shudder at the contemplation of what might have been the
consequences.
Alas! alas! sir, that men cannot be content to worship God according to
the dictates of their conscience, without preventing their fellow mortals from
enjoying the same privilege. On the School Question, nothing more than the
recognized legal rights of conscience has been claimed for the Catholic chil-
dren. These rights, the Catholics under the most intolerant governments
have never given up, and never will relinquish. They have been deprived
of them by intolerant laws. If the American people are willing to enact
such laws, we shall submit to pains and penalties. We interfere with no
other denomination of citizens — we wish them all to enjoy the same privi-
leges that we claim for ourselves. Is not this the principle of the American
government? Is it not the pride and boast and the glory of the American
people ? And if it be all this, why is it that Americans are opposed to it ?
I, sir, am not a man of strife or cimtention. My disposition is, I trust,
both pacific and benevolent. As a proof of this I may mention that I have
never had a personal altercation with a human being in my life ; that I have
never had occasion to call others, or to be called myself beforfe any civil
tribunal of the earth. It is true that public duty has not unfrequently forced
upon me the necessity of taking my stand in moral opposition to principles
which I deemed injurious and unjust. But even then, I trust I have made
the distinction which Christian feeling suggests between the cause and the
person of the advocate arrayed against me. And though I have some-
times perhaps been ssvere on my opponents, I trust that it proceeded not
from any malice in the heart; it came on me rather as a species of intellec-
tual indignation at witnessing bad logic employed -to defend worse bigotry.
Even in this communication, I may have done some injustice to the per-
sons whose names I have mentioned. I have not had an opportunity of con-
sulting a single document. What I have said regarding myself rests •pon
my own interior consciousness; what I have said in the w.iy of opinion,
must of course rest upon the accur^y of ray judgment, and must partake of
its imperfections. But I have stated some things as facts, merely on the
strength of my memory, and if these should not be in reality as I have
stated, then do I willingly retract them, for I have no disposition to do injus-
tice to any man. Of these statements, one is that Colonel Stone in quoting
(roiL Bennett, suppressed the name of his author, and instead of it, put on
LETTER TO MAYOR HARPER. 463
Ihe phrase, "A Morning Print." Another is the attack by this Mr. Bennett
on Mrs. Daniel O'Connell. This I never saw, but have no doubt in my own
mind of its existence and of its character. Another still is the fabrication
of the incendiary speech by Bennett, from which a quotation has been given
—as haying been made by the Native Americans. I do not say that it is a
fabrication, but, of course, the parties interested can easily determine the fact.
With high respect, sir, I have the honor to remain your obedient servant,
>J< JOHN HUGHES, Bisnop of New York.
'New Yorh^ May 17th, 1844.
BISHOP HUG-HES' SECOND LETTER.
New York, Monday^ May 27, ]8i4.
*' In this country all things are affected or decided by public opinion, andpublic
opinion itself is sustained by two opposite elements— TRUTH and FALSEHOOD.
There is nothing moro powerful than FALSEHOOD, except TRUTH alone. The
enemies of our claim were "not ignorant of this, and therefore they have crowded
every avenue to public opinion with misrepeesestatio.v in reference to it." [Extract
from Bishop Hughes's Speech on the School Question, at Carroll Hall, Oct. 29, 18il.
To Col. Wm. L. Stone, Editor of the Oommercial Advertiser :
Sir — It may appear singular that I should select a quotation
from one of my own speeches, as an introduction to the letter which
I am about to address you. But I pray you not to be alarmed. I
may be egotistical, but you will be pleased to recollect that the news-
papers have been at me a long time — that I write necessarily about
myself,, so of course cannot lose sight of the subject. Mr. David
Hale, as the only answer to my letter lately addressed to Mayor
Harper, has discovered that I have made reference to myself " three
hundred and sixty-one times ?" This same gentleman published,
now nearly two years ago, that " in one of the Catholic churches of
this city, a Catholic priest at Confession, condemned a yoXing woman
for having attended public worship with a family whom she served,
to walk upon her knees around the church, tintil the blood issued
TKEELT FROM HER WOUNDS." Of coursc, in ordcr to hold such a
bad priest accountable, I inquired for his name, the name of the
church to which he belonged, the name -of the young woman, the
time and place of the occurrence— to all of which inquiries, Mr.
David Hale had to be mum! Still, he was sure it must have been
464 AECIIBISIIOP HUGHES.
SO ; there could be no mistake about it, and he has never had the
conscience to make either an acknowledgement or an apology foi;
this atfocious calumny to the present day. I have therefore set him
down as I expressed in my last letter, as afflicted with a weakness
or duplici'ty of moral visio'n, for the '■'■effects or defects of which, he
is perhaps scarcely accountable." But I have never heard his saga-
city called in question where the matter was one of pure '■'■calcula-
tion ;" and if he says that J have referred to myself three hundred
and sixty-one times in my last letter, it may be looked upon as cor-
rect. I shall do probably as rnuch in this communication — but the
reason is, that I profess to write about myself in repelling the slan-
ders of others, which would be impossible if I could lose sight of
my subject.
I take the lilDerty of addressing this letter to you, sir, as taking
the first place, after Mr. Bennett, in misleading the public by cir-
culating the slanders just alluded to. I am not surprised that at
your age, and with your character and respectability, you should
shrink from a partnership of responsibility with such a man as Mr.
Bennett. But, sir, you should have thought of this sooner; and
not have joined with a man like him in a partnership of moral guilt.
Mr. Hale is the only man pretending to respectability who has
the courage to take sides with him ; and the alliance, strange to
other minds as it may appear, is quite natural to mine.
But before I proceed, I must beg leave to express my disagree-
ment with the opinion of many respectable persons, both Catholics
and Protestants, to the effect that Bennett is too low and- too scur-
rillous, to deserve the notice with which, they are pleased to say, I
honor him. A Philadelphia paper says that I have raised him to an
equality with myself. This would be indeed a delightful, if it were
not a hopeless attempt. On the other hand, I trust there is not the
least danger of my sinking to his degraded level. As a citizen of
the United States, if he be one, I claim no superiority over Mr. Ben-
nett. As to his moral position, I have but to repeat the opinion
which I have already expressed, that " if he were more depraved,
or Ifss despised, he would not be so dangerous ; but being without
any fixed principle of good, he occupies that ambiguous position
which renders him, as men say, too contemptible for notice, and yet
not sufiiciently so to be below the power of mischief." I notice him,
therefore, not as being capable of good, but as being capable and
disposed to e-^il. That he should have power to do even mischief,
is perhaps the reproach of the community ; and I would appeal to
that community to join me in compelling him to rise for an effort
for good, against the adverse instincts of his nature, or else, if this
should be impossible, to sink him below the capacity of accomplish-
ing his wickedness.
This, sir, may seem to be harsh language, but I throw myself on
the indulgence of the reader, with the simple request that he will
not pronounue it unmerited until he shall have closed the perusal of
this letter. I have introduced these remarks here, simply to exhibit
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 465
tho reasons in general why I cannot agree in opinion with many ex-
cellent friends, who say that Mr. Bennett is beneath my notice. It
will appear in the sequel, that he has continued to assail me with an
industry and a malignity which, considering the man, can be ac-
counted for only on the supposition that it was prompted by either
of Ms predominant passions — avarice or revenge. If indeed there have
been found persons weak or wicked enough to gratify the former by
bribing him to abuse me, it only proves that they at least have not
considered him beneath notice. "With regard to the latter, the
only pretext that I have ever heard alleged for it, would be the
treatment which he received from Mr. O'Connell, which I have
been told he ascribed to my procurement. In his pretented reply to
my letter he characterises that treatment as " brutal." I agree with
him in this application of language, but the brutality must be found
in. the object, not the subject of that treatment. When a man tramples
on the decency of humanity, not to say Christian courtesy, he is
metaphorically described as a " brute." Bennett so trampled on the
decencies of humanity when he wrote the attack on Mrs. O'Connell ;
when he represented an amiable, accomplished and aged Christian
lady as constituting the domestic head and centre for six of her
husband's concubines ! When the attack reached that husband,
whilst he stood over the new-made grave of that wife, bedewing
it with his tears, and when afterwards this " brute " had the
assurance to obtrude himself on the notice 'of that husband, in a
public meeting, what other treatment except " brutal " could he
expect or deserve ? True, now that the infamy of his conduct re-
coils upon him, he attempts to throw the blame on others. This
subterfuge, even were it true, does not exonerate him ; for it would
have been made immediately after he discovered the assault, if he
were not in reality what O'Connell rightlj' took him to be. But this
shall be treated of in its proper place.
In the mean time I laid down in my letter to Mayor Harper, nine
propositions, in direct opposition to the slanders circulated in the
Herald, the Commercial Advertiser, and other papers, on my own con-
duct and character. Read them over, I pray you, and answer me
whether the man of whom those propositions are true, is not in a
position to hurl a dignified and proud defiance at all assailants of
his reputation. Bennett has read them, and he has not dared to
deny the truth of one of them. I wish you to read them, sir ; but
I perceive by the Commercial Advertiser, just handed me, of this date,
27th of May, that you are indisposed. I regret this, for I have no
feelings on the subject but those of kindness. N"either shall I
press those points in which I have special right to complain of
yourself, until the period, which I trust is not far distant, when
you will be able to resume your editorial duties, and when I
shall be prepared to hold you accountable for the public and
injurious use you have made of my name. But, whilst I shall
touch lightly upon subjects in which you are involved, in reference
to my character and conduct, I do not deem it necessary to alter
30
466 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
a syllable of what I have written, nor to change the form of my
letter by omitting your name, when I consider the unscrupulous use
and abuse of mine, which is to be found in your columns. I hold
my name is as sacred as yours ; but beyond this, I shall reserve the
principal portion of what I have to say until, which I hope may be
soon, you will be in a position to answer for yourself.
Mr. Bennett has passed over in silence — no thanks to him for so
doing — all the propositions respecting myself, which, if true, as I
contend they are, proves that what he and others have said against
me, is sheer falsehood and slander. But, passing over these, he has
charged me with two subordinate matters which I shall now dispose
of. The first is my reference to an amiable and talented lady, who
will dc me the justice to remember that I did not make any mention
of her name. I would not willingly offend against the rules of gal-
lantry or good breeding. I applied an epithet, which I now regret
exceedingly — not that I feel that I was unwarranted in applying it,
but, because I could not then foresee that the lachete of one of her
bad friends could have been so greg,t that he would publish her
honored name, as a shield for the protection of his own guilty head.
My allusion was intended for the eye of the lady herself, but not
for the notoriety which this bad friend has since given it. In truth,
I supposed that the allusion would be understood by few, if any,
besides herself We have certainly seen the writings even of ladies
severely criticised. But /am not a reviewer by profession. And
if I alluded in a seemingly harsh manner to these writings, I make
bold to say that the lady herself after a proper explanation, will do
me the justice to acknowledge, that if I have even merited blame
for what I have said, it is more than counterbalanced by the kind
feelings that may be inferred from my silence in regard to what I
have suppressed. But even so, I regret that her feelings should
have been pained, and declare that if I had thought that of the few
who might understand the allusion, there could have been one base
enough to publish her name in connexion with it, it should never
have been uttered by me. Still, I apologise to her, and express my
regret that anything I have ever written should have given the least
pain to one who for talents, benevolence, purity of character and
'imiability, is justly regarded as an honor and ornament to her
sex.
The other small matter, on which a point has been raised by
Bennett, is in reference to my speech at Carroll Hall. He says in
his paper of Saturday that this speech is woed fob wor6 the same
as that published in the Freeman^s Journal, and drawing his con-
clusion from this assertion of his own, he charges upon 'ine that I
am guilty of " falsehood."
This is impossible, for at the conclusion of my letter I stated, that
in penning it I had not a single document before me, and conscious-
ness, judgment, and memory were all I had to depend upon. And
knowing that the two latter of these might betray me into a mis-
take, I took the precaution which I owed to Christian feeling and
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 467
common candor, to state, that if in any matter of fact I was mis-
taken, I retracted my words by anticipaition. After such a declaration,
no man, except Bennett, even if I had been mistaken on some point,
would accuse me of falsehood. This is the only case in which even
Bennett questions ray accuracy or my veracity. If what he says
wei-e true, with such a precaution on my part, it could be but of
little service to him.
But it is not true. The report in the Herald, and the report in
i\'\Q Freeman^ s Journal axe. not viOYdiiov word the same. This is a
fact. And with facts, even Bennett ought to know, at this time,
that reasoning, much less assertion, is perfectly useless. If, there-
fore, I convict Bennett of attempting to deceive on this point, I will
surprise nobody. Still, as I have appealed to the justice of public
opinion, I shall not presume to stand before that tribunal with even
this imputation. To put this matter right, it is sufficient to say that
the quotation at the head of this letter is found in the report of my
speech at Carroll Plall, in the Freeman's Journal, and is not found in
Bennett's report of the same. Therefore, when Bennett says that
the two reports are " word for word " the same, it only proves that
he was accomplishing. a falsehood and knew it. This falsehood he
repeats six times ; still, as the list will be sufficiently long, we shall
count it but as one. To what extent it is a falsehood, may be
inferred from the following extracts of my speech at Carroll Hall,
as reported in the FreemaiCs Journal. I quote them not merely for
this purpose, but also to refute in so much the wholebody of slanders
that have been circulated by all the editors, orators, and clergymen,
who, taking Bennett for their leader, have almost exceeded him in
the perversion of the truth. The whole speech may be read in the
Freem(m\i Journal, extra, of October 30. And' the perusal of it will
convince any man who can read — first, there is not a word of appeal
to religious or sectarian prejudices — second, that there is not a word
of politics, except in so far as candidates had arrayed themselves in
opposition to the equal rights of the people — third, that the purpose
of that speech 'was not to organize a party, but to lay down and
develope a principle. These propositions will be established by the
following passages of that speech.
" In this country all things are affected or decided by public
opinion, and public opinion itself is sustained by two opposite
elements — truth and falsehood. There is nothing more powerful
than falsehood, except truth alone. The enemies of our claim were
not ignorant of this, and therefore they have crowded every avenue
to public opinion with misrepresentations in reference to our
claim.
" It is therefore necessary for u^ to have recourse to the truth
which they suppress or disguise. We do not ask for sectarian schools.
We do not ask that any portion of the public money should be confided
to us for the purpose of teaching our religion at the public expense —
such a demand would be absurd, and vmuld richlt merit the rebuke
WHICH IT COULD NOT ESCAPE.
468 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES.
"lu the public schdols which were established according to the
system now in force, our children had to study books which we
could not approve. Religious exercises were used which we did
recognise, and our children were compelled to take part inthem.
Then we withdrew them from the schools and taught them with our
own means. We do not want money from the School Fund — all we
desire is that it he administered in such a way as to promote the education
of all Now the Public School Society has introduced just so much
of religious and sectarian teaching as it pleased them in the plentitude
of their irresponsible character to impart. They professed to exclude
religion and yet they introduced so much in quantity as they thought
proper, and of such a quality as violated our religious rights. If our
children cannot receive education without having their religious
faith and feelings modeled by the Public School Society, then _ they
cannot receive it under the auspices of that institution, and if for
those reasons they cannot receive it under the auspices of that institu-
tion, it is tyranny to tax them for its support. We do not ask the
introduction t)f religious teaching in any public school, but we con-
tend that if such religious influences be brought to bear on the business
of education, it shall be, so far as our children are concerned, in accord-
ance with the religious belief of their parents and families.'"
« 4t 1; Hf '^ * * If
" But I call upon you to resist this public school system whether
you are sustained by public men or not.
" You are called upon to join with your oppressors, and they leave
you NO ALTEEKTATiYB in voting. It may appear uncommon — it may
seem inconsistent with my character — that I should thus take an
interest in this matter ; and I should not were it not a subject of
extraordinary import. But there has been an invasion of your
religious rights, and as the spiritual guardian of those now before
me, I am bound to help their cause. If you are taxed you must be
protected. Were the tax so imposed that each denomination might
receive the benefit of its own quota, the case would be fair. We
are willing to have ANY SYSTEM that operates EQUAiiw ; but we will
never submit to a direct violation of our rights, and an appropriation
of the school fund in such a manner that we may not participate in
its benefits.
* * *** ***
" Experience tells us that to all great questions agitated in this
country, there are two sides ; and in the history of this one we have
' evidence of the fact. I do not consider the question as it regards
parties or men. I only speak for and advocate the freedom of educa-
tion, and the men who stand up for it. I appear as the friend of
him who would give justice to all classes."
These extracts confirm the truth of what has already been said,
that it was not until after the misrepresentation and bigotry of a
portion of the press liad bound the representatives of the people to
deny even a consideration of their claims to the friends of general
education that they took up the only alternative consistent with
LETTEE TO COL. STONE. 409
honor and a sense of right. But in all this there is no aj^peal to
sectarianism-— there is no appeal to nationality — there is no expression
of denunciation or bitterness ; in a word, there is nothing but the
calm, rational development of a great constitutional right, happily
secured equally to all the people. If you make a public issue Avith
any other denomination of Christians—for instance, the Methodists
or Presbyterians— for the purpose of depriving them, as such, of a
constitutional right, they will naturally and necessarily oppose the
eifort by constitutional means.
If you attempt to hem them in, in such a manner that they can-
not have a chance for voting, except by voting for persons pledged
to inflict upon them the very injury they complain of, their right to
complaint will cease, if they co-operate with you for that purpose.
This was the principle which I developed in my speech at Carroll
Hall, as may be seen by another extract still.
'_' They say that we want a portion of the school fund for sec-
tarian purposes — to apply it to the support and advancement of our
religion. This we deny now, as we have heretofore. We have
denied it officially and under their own observation. And were they
careful or solicitous for the truth of their statements they would not
have made the assertion. In this community, all religious denomina-
tions are supposed to be equal. There is no such thing as a predominant
religion, and the smallest minority is entitled to the same protection as
the greatest majority. No denomination, whether numerous or not, can
impose its views on a minority at the common expense of that minority
and itself. It was against that we contended.^''
These extracts are all found in the report of my speech at Carroll
Hall, as contained ia the Freeman'' s Journal.' They are not found in
the same report as contained in the Herald. And yet Bennett in
his paper of the 21st inst. says that the "two reports ".are, " vee-
BATiK ET LiTEEATiM," the Same with the exception of two words in
the description of the enthusiasm with which the Bishop's speech
was received. In the- Herald of the 24th, he says " we shall show in
the most conclusive manner, that the report which appeared in our
columns was identical, to the very letter, with that which re-
ceived his own sanction, and was published to the world in his own
journal." In the saijie paper of the 25th, last Saturday — "We give
this report from the Freeman''s Journal — the Bishop's own paper — a
report which was subjected to his revision, and was published with
his full approbation and that of his friends ;" and again, " These
reports were made by the same gentleman as we have already stated,
and we now present the incontrovertible proof that they are word
forward (he same — that the report which the Bishop has so distinctly
and vehemently denounced as a burlesque report, is to the very letter
the same as that published in his own paper after having received
his sanction." Such is Bennett's repetition of his own falsehoods.
I have taken the trouble to exhibit these quotations which are found
in the Freeman's Journal and are not found in the Herald — not that
I eujDpose that any one would believe Bennett's word in opposition
470 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
to mini3, but because on the faitli of Bishop White's testimony and
my own experience, I had appealed to the justice and love of fair
play inherent in the public opinion of Americans ; and because out
of respect for that tribunal I wished to appear vindicated, lest some
malevolent or incautious editor might quote these declarations of
his, on the authority, not of Bennett's, but of " a morning paper."
Of course the public see the position of both parties in regard to this
only point which even Bennett has raised, and they will be the
better prepared to appreciate the following statement, contained in
the same paper of the same date, 25th inst. : " The Bishop has been
convicted of uttering a deliberate — a most gross and atrocious false-
hood. He has been proved to be guilty of circulating this falsehood
through the journals of this city. And now we affix it upon his fore-
head. We brand this burning disgrace upon his cheek and dare him
to come before the public in any capacity for the purpose of impugn-
ing the ACCUEACY of the report which we have shown to be identical
with his own." Unfortunate man !
Before I enter into the detail of Bennett's abuse, I shall class under
two or three general heads, the allegations which he has made against
me. If these allegations were true, I should think it not only
natural, but also reasonable and just that the American people
should regard me as an ill-disposed and evil-minded person. One is
that I have organized my flock into a combination separate from, and
adverse to, the principles of the country to which they belong, and
to which alone they can look for protection. Another is — that I am
somehow or other leagued with O'Connell in promoting two ques-
tions, one of which, though interesting to every man that loves
human rights and human freedom, is still, so far as its results are
concerned, a foreign question, namely. Repeal! — the other a question
of extreme delicacy and difficulty, involving consequences of the
mightiest import to our domestic policy, namely. Abolition! Now
I shall proceed to show first, that so far from having organized my
flock into a distinct class in their civil relations, I have held and still
hold the doctrines of David Hale, and the "Native Americans" on
that subject. And first with regard of organizing my flock into a
separate class.
Let the reader refer t(j the Freeman'' s Journal of November 11th,
1843, and he will find an article under the head of "Insulting
Appeals of Politicians," from which the following passages are
extracts :
" We should have thought that the Catholic citizens of this State
had arrixed at such a period of intellectual maturity, as would en-
able them to see the despicable artifice of those who, on the eve of
an election, appeal to them as ' Adopted Citizens.' We should have
thought, moreover, that by this time, they had acquired spirit and
self-respect enough to spurn such appeals in a manner that should
rebuke and disappoint the calculations of their despicable authors.
' Adopted Citizens ' can have no interest opposed to, or apart from,
those which engage the attention of the people at large, and should
LBTTEli TO COL. STONE. 47l
feel themselves insulted, when they are appealed to as if constituting
a distinct and separate class. Even in this city such things have so
often been attempted with supposed success, by their friends, that
their enemies too, have availed themselves of the practice. On the
day of the election, Tuesday last, they were called upon through
the medium of placards, headed with a large black ceoss (for nothing-
is too sacred for these men) to vote for a particular candidate, and
this was done with the direct intention of accomplishing his
defeat. We know not who was the author of this ' ingenious
device.' We know, indeed, that last year. Col. Stone pubUshed, with
all the notes of horror which such a spectacle could excite in the
breast of a pious editor as he is, a similar exhibition of a ' black
cross,' purporting to be a placard from the Catholics, whilst he mtjst
have known that the whole forgery -was the work of his colleagues,
if not his own." This has reference to a political recommendation by
persons signing themselves ' Trustees of Christ Church,' a "Catho-
lic church at Sandy Hill, in this State. The article in the Freeman's
Journal goes on to review an opposite recommendation by other
individuals, and speaks thus : " This counter recommendation is
signed first, ' Thomas Kensler, Lieutenant of the Irish Greens,' which
shows if its signers had titles, they would not hesitate to make use of
them, especially if they were likely to have any weight on the sup-
posed stupidity of ' Adopted Citizens.' Then follows a list of thirty-
two names, among which the O'Conners and O'Neills and O'Keefes
stand out conspicuo\is. These be it known are members of Christ
Church, Sandy Hill ; and their indignation does not speak forth at
the insult which is put upon them as ' Adopted Citizens ' and
'Catholics,' and \vhich they put upon themselves, but is directed
against their opponents for having signed themselves ' trustees !'
Really, the contempt in which they are held by those who address
them with such appeals is well merited. When they present them-
selves as ' trustees,' or as ' Adopted Citizens,' or as ,' Catholics,'
to do the low electioneering of political aspirants, on the eve of an
election, thfey deser\'ed never to be rated higher than they are by
those who empl6y these appeals — that is, as men without common
intelligence or self-respect.''''
Abating the mixture of contemptuous epithets and insult, who
would not suppose that this language is copied from an editorial of
David Hale or from a speech of the " Native Americans ?" Yet, the
reader will be astonished to learn that these extracts are from an
article written by, and express the sentiments of Bishop Hughes !
— that man who is represented by Bennett, the editor of the Com-
mercial Advertiser, the Journal of Commerce, the orators of the
Native American party, and many of the grave and reverend
divines of our pulpits, as organizing his flock into a distinct and
separate class as '-foreigners and Catholics ! ! !"
As regards Repeal in Ireland, the Bishop approves of it without
qualification, and especially considering the moral and Christian
sanction which appertains to the means that have hitherto been em-
472 ARCHBISHOP HUGHDS.
ployed for the pro-noting it. But I, sir, have never connected my
person, my opinions, or ray name with any association in Eurof e or
America, founded for the purpose of promoting even that humane,
just, and liberal object.
As regards abolition, happily for me, I can refer to testimony
which no one can suspect of being invoked or concocted for the
occasion. In the month of March, 1842, more than two years ago,,
I had occasion to write a reply to a strange reference by Col. "Webb,
editor of the Courier and Enquirer^ on the subject of an address
which was circulated by the abolitionists of this country — an address
signed by O'Connell to his countrymen in the United States. My
opinion at that time was that the document was not authentic. I have
had reason since to alter my opinion, and to believe that the signa-
ture of this great man had been solicited and obtained, under a felse
representation of the true state of the question as regards slavery in
the United States. Here is an extract from my letter to Col. "Webb,
pubhshed in the Courier and Enquirer. * * * " Should it (O'Connell's
signature) prove to be authentic, then I have no hesitation in declar-
ing my opinion that it is the duty of every naturalized Irishman to"
resist and repudiate the address with indignation. Not precisely be-
cause of the doctrines it contains, but because of their having emanated
from & foreign source, and of their tendency to operate on questions
of domestic and national policy. I am no friend to slavery, but
I am still less friendly to any attempt of foreign origin to
abolish it."
" The duties of naturalized Irishmen and others, I consider to be
no wise distinct or different from those of native Americans. And
if it be proved an attempt has been made by this address, or any
other address, to single them out on any question, appertaining to the
foreign or domestic policy of the United States, in any other capacity
than that of the lohole population, then it will be their duty to their
country, and their conscience, to rebvlce such an attempt, come from
lohat foreign, source it may, in the most decided manner and language
that common courtesy will permit." '
These, sir, constitute my vindication from the infamous charges
that have been preferred against me, whether from the press or from
the pxilpit. But besides these, and beside the propositions covering
ray whole character and conduct, laid down in my former letter to
the Mayor, and which no man can impugn with one conflicting fact,
I have to add still other testimony going to prove that I am not the
man whom even the furious denunciations of native Americans
represented me to be. Before the close of this communication
you will have seen the ferocity with which I have been denounced,
according to Bennett's reports of their proceedings, by this new
party.
The following is a transcript of an article published in the Freeman^ i
Journal, as far back as February the 3d, this year :
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 473
• THE NATIVE AMEEICAN PAETT.'
"Several of our subscribers have intimated a wish that, inasmuch
as this party professes a special hostility toward foreigners, we should
devote some portion of our space to a refutation of their calumnies
and misrepresentations. To those who think so, we would say, that
the object and principle of our journal foebid us taking up any
question of local politics ; and that the very nature of the case
renders it superfluous to engage in a refutation of clap-trap state-
ments, which their authors themselves do not believe. The in-
dividuals composing this party have a political right to associate,
appoint officers, make speeches, designate candidates, and elect them
if they can. It is true they have no moral right to employ falsehood
in their speeches for the purpose of increasing their number, or of
inflaming the public mind. But this violation of moral right must
be met with by the exercise of moral duly on our pari — that is,
patience and unexceptionable deportment. We would even caution
all, who may be influenced by our opinion, against any act unworthy
of the high character which foreigners, generally, by their good and
peaceful conduct, have acquired in the minds of the respectable por-
tion of the community. No greater injury could be injiicted on the
interests of foreigners, no greater disgrace could be affixed on their char-
acter, than if thej allowed themselves to be provoked into any act, in-
consistent with the laws and good order of society. This remark is par-
ticularly applicable to Catholics, for, it is quite evident that no for-
eigners in general, but Catholics in particular, are the objects of the
hatred of this spurious nativeism. We would urge, then, emphatically
on Catholics, to bear themselves, in all respects, in a manner which wUl
prove them worthy of the privileges and rights which they enjoy.
Many will probably join this party who are really friends of foreign-
ers,' but who for the moment will coalesce with their enemies to
accomphsh some local purpose, of which foreigners constitute no
part. The true issue is for the loaves and fishes of office, and as
but a small share of those, if any, falls to the lot of foreigners so,
notwithstanding the abuse of their name, they may consider them-
selves as scarcely interested iri the quarrel. The true issue is between
natives and natives ; there let it remain. The part which foreigners
should take will be to side with, and support those, who, besides
personal worth, profess to carry out the fair and liberal provisions
of the Constitution and laws of the country."
" Those who will have read these remarks will find in them, a
sufficient explanation of the reason why we have wasted so little of
our space with the question of Native Americanism."
These, so far as I can recollect, are the doctrines for the pretended
violation Of which I have been so falsely and injuriously assailed
by Mr. Hale and the " ISTative Americans." And yet this article,
published editorially in the Freeman's Journal, as already described,
is from the pen of Bishop Hughes, who is representijd as organizing
his people into a separate class ! ! ! Again, look at another news-
474 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
paper called tl)e Truth Teller, over which I have no control, published
January 6th, 1844, under the title of " The Press of New York,"
and you will find in an article of nearly a column's length the fol-
lowing passage, which expresses the spirit of the whole :
" Now, we are satisfied that if it be necessary to speak of a portion
of the community as foreigners at all, their true course here, and, so
far as this place is concerned, elsewhere too, is to enter into no discus-
sion with those persons who distinguish themselves in the manner we
have just referred to. In this country, speech, like opinion, is free ;
and if this party so called should persevere in the ferocious spirit of
its denunciations, it will find its corrective, not in the arguments
which might be urged on the part of the assailed, but in the dearer '
self-interest of those who foresee that their prospects will be blighted
by its success, * * * but they have failed hitherto in exciting any-
thing like opposition on the part of the adopted citizens ; neither the
Irish, nor German, nor English, nor Scotch citizens, have con-
descended either to notice their proceedings, or in any manner to
resent their insults. This is as it should be."
This article, too, is from the pen of Bishop Hughes, so famous, ac-
cording to the echoes of slander, for organizing his people into a sep-
erate class for political purposes. These are the articles to which I
alluded in my last communication, when I remarked that " from a
very early period, I prevented the only papers which affected to rep-
resent Catholic interests, from opposing either the principles or the
progress of the new party. When the private interest or enter-
prise of individuals urged them to establish new papers intended
expressly to oppose the progress of ' Native Americanism,' and to
uphold the constitutional rights of foreigners of all religions, I
peremptorily refused to give either patronage or approbation — fore-
seeing, as I imagined, to what points such antagonism must lead."
I know that the irresponsible editor of the Journal of Commerce
rates me as if I had " prevented " or " caused to be published these
papers " by an absolute authority, or by physical force. It was not
so ; but merely by the influence of moral means, such as a friend
uses towards a friend, actuated by the desire for the peace,
security and honor of society. And his reasoning is that it is
most dangerous to the community that it should include one mem-
ber capable of anticipating and preventing the horrors which have
occurred in another city ! But I have already stated that I look upon
the editor of the Journal of Commerce, as morally irresponsible for
what he says.
From all this it will be seen, not only that Bennett and his fol-
lowers, have no facts whereby to estabhsh their abuse of me, but,
that I have abundant facts to establish the truth of sentiments, of
language, and of conduct, directly the opposite of 'those which they
have charged upon me. I have already published my sentiments in
reference to an Irish or Catholic organization, and to any political
distinction bet^yeen adopted and native citizens. "With Repeal I
never had anything to do, except as a looker on. On the question
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 4Ty
oP Abolitionism the same. But, as may be seen, when the name of
Mr. O'Connell was employed as a charm to convert his countrymen
in the United States into Abolitionists, I did suggest to them in my
letter to the Courier and Enquirer that whatever might be their
opinions on the subject, anything like dictation or advice from any
foreign source, on that subject was to be met with rebuke or indigna-
tion. I have never attended or taken part in a political meeting or
movement in my life. I have never voted in my life, except once. I have
never made a political speech in my life ; and I dare any one on earth to
meet me in contradiction of this statement. The School Question is a
subject which can be explained in a few words. The Catholics of New
York for sixteen years had been deprived of the benefits of the taxes
which, in common with their fellow-citizens, they had to pay for educa-
tion. They had created a few free schools to supply as well as might'
be the evils resulting from this privation. Th^ question now arises,
why were they deprived of the rights of education ? And the an-
swer to that question presents the issue made in the whole contro-
versy. The Public School Society assigned as a reason that the
Catholics were bigoted, and that their priests kept them apart from
the other children, lest they should become enlightened, Americanized,
and, as a consequence, Protestants, as soon as they grow up. The
Catholics, on the other hand, denied this ; and alleged that the
tystem of the Public School Society was adapted to make the chil-
dren Protestants or infidels first, or simultaneously with education.
Here is the controversy on these two statements. The Catholics
. alleged that the elementary books of the schools put into the hands
of their children were calculated, if not intended, to poison their
minds in reference to their religion. For months and years this was
denied by the Public School Society. That it was true, they them-
selves have had the candor to acknowledge, by blackening certain
portions of their books, and this at their own motion, and not at any
instance of mine. As an instance of those passages I will quote,
among others, the following :
" John Hnss, a zealous reformer from Popery, who lived in
Bohemia toward the close of the fourteenth and the beginning of
the fifteenth centuries. He was bold and persevering i but at length,
trusting to the deceitful Catholics, he was by them brought to trial,
condemned as a heretic, and burnt at the stake."
The principles of the Public School Society and their friends was,
that the Catholics should pay tKeir school taxes like others (which
they did), and then, after having paid their taxes, send their children
to the schools to have their minds imbued with sentiments like this,
combining at once prejudice, uncharitableness, and, withal, blunder-
ing historical inaccuracy.
The Catholics, on the other hand, would not agree to have the
feehngs and understandings of their children misled by ' such
sentiments, as the benefit offered to them in return for the taxes
which the law required thehi to pay. They petitioned, as good
citizens ought to do, u.ader the pressure of a grievance. Thej
476 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
discussed — tlifiy reasoned with their opponents. And this led tp the
results already referred to. But the ungenerous trick of the friends
of tht; Public School Society, on discovering that without trick, false-
hood and misrepresentation were no match for truth, was to allow
as far as possible no one to be elected, except such as should first
bind themselves to deny redress for the greivance complained of — no
matter how just or how real that grievance might be. Then, it was
on the very eve of the election, that at a meeting in Carroll Hall on
the School Question, when the knowledge of this trick broke upon
us, I expressed the sentiments which I still stand by, whether
rightly reported or not, as they are found in the Freeman's Journal,
but not as they are adorned with the waving of shiUalahs in Bennett's
Herald : Bennett says that the two reports are " word for word,"
" verbatim et literatim, the same." Bennett knew when he wrote
this, last week, that he was writing what was not true — and now the
public know that he knew it. My speech at Carroll Hall was not
the speech of a politician. It was the speech of a man who has some
reverence for the dignity of human nature. It was the speech of an
American who knows and prizes the rights secured by the American
Constitution, which he would not wish to see violated in any
denomination of Christians, more than in his own. Read that
speech as it is in the Freeman's Journal. Is there any appeal to
foreigners, to Irish, to Catholics, to politicians, or to any class of
beings, except so far as a principle of clear indisputable right and
justice could be an appeal to the understanding and the hearts of
every honest man ?
Turn now, sir, I pray you, after having read the blasting refuta-
tion of Bennett's last falsehood, to the nine propositions laid down
in my last letter as facts. If those facts are true, I ask you
whether there is a man among us who can present himself at the
bar of a just and honorable opinion, in a more unexceptionable
character, as a citizen, as a Christian pastor, than I do in repelling
the excess of scurrilous abuse and calumny which has been heaped
upon me ? But if these propositions are not true, again I say —
" Now, therefore, James Gordon Bennett, Wm L. Stone, and ye
other deceivers of the public, stand forth and meet Bishop Hughes."
A few words more and I shall close with what appertains to my
own vindication.
In my letter to his Honor the Mayor I stated as follows, in
reference to the meeting at Carroll Hall :
" But there was a reporter of Bennett's there who made such a
speech as he thought proper, which was afterwards, as I have reason
to believe, fitted up for the purpose of producing one of Bennett's
' iremendovs excitements,^ and making the ' Herald always the first
and most enterprising paper in New York.' Having t.aken this
report, having studded it with the gems of his own ribaldry, and
- made some half a column of editorial comments, in all that mock
gravity of which Bennett is capable, the Herald of the next morn-
ing became the basis and fountain of all the vituperation, calumny,
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 477
and slander which have been heaped on Bishop Hughes throughout
the United States, from that day to this."
A\l this was from memory, and I apologized by anticipation, if
la questions of memory I had made any mistake. In his attempt to
reply to this, on the 25th, he states that the whole question turns on
the accuracy of the report alone. This is false, I said the " Rerald
of the next morning," including both the report and the editorial
comments made with the mock gravity which he sometimes put on,
in derision of mankind. So that here is falsehood both in altering
and in suppressing truth. In that editorial, headed with flaming
letters, he announced a. new and extraordinary inovemeiit — mixture of
politics and religion — he makes the clergy as well as myself speakers,
etc. Now, none of the Catholic clergy took any part in the
proceedings whatever, nor have they in the discussion of the School
Question, with one or two solitary exceptions. ISTeither was there
any mixture of politics and religion that I am aware of, except what
is found in every assemblage of men, who have some idea of religion
and politics, without the slightest consciousness of any necessary
" mixture." "Words of this kind — written maliciously — read hastily
— sent forth at a time of great party excitement — caught vp according
to the hue and tone of the passions— commented on as they have been,
became unquestionably the fountain and basis of all the vituperation
that has been heaped on me throughout the United States from
that day until this. After what I have said already, the truth of
one word of which not even Bennett will dare to deny, I ask you*
to ponder on the direction given to the public mind by this article —
and I think you will see that, by necessity, this man perverts truth
in the spirit of the article — -he perverts it in the adjective— he perverts
it in the noun — in the preposition — he perverts it in what he says,
and so far as the moral effect is concerned, he perverts it in what he
suppresses. But I cannot spare time for the minute exposure of his
atrocities on my character.
The examination of this question has impressed on my mind more
deeply than ever the soundness of the quotation at the head of this
letter. And I do believe that so far as regards the things of this
•woxldi, falsehood would be " almighty" if it were not for truth alone.
There are, certainly, most curious forces concealed and mingled with
the elements of material nature. I do not speak of mesmerism — but
I would just call your attention to the phenomena that are
produced by the action of a galvanic battery. When its force is
made to act on a dead body, you perceive what a shocking mimicry
of life is produced. There are manifestations, as if an artificial
soul had again acquired the mastery and dominion over the move-
ment of joints, sinews and muscles. Now, it seems to me that I
have discovered a latent principle somewhat analogous, in power of
truth. And if I can bring out the correctness of theory, I hope to
be ranked among the philosophers of the age — for whom I ha\e a.
greater respect than for its politicians. I shall make my experiments
on James Gordon Bennett. And in order that they may be fairly
478 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
tried, it is essential that he should stand in the midst of a large ring
of spectators— but no one shall touch him. Of course, my battery
is moral, and its effects are to be produced on his will and pmver over
his own motions ? If the theory be sound, the spectators will witness
the following phenomena. Whenever the force is applied, Mr.
James Gordon Bennett shall lose all power over his own will ; and in
spite of himself, he will jerk his arms and impress on his forehead a
certain combination of letters in which all that is least honorable in
the English alphabet will be concentrated. In order that the experi-
ment should be fairly tested it is necessary that he should look Truth
. full in the face. In this he will find some difficulty, though heis
accustomed to see very well on either side of it. However, I shall
shift it, as circumstances may require, to meet the, focus of his vis-
ion. I shall commence with one of the most cruel things he ever said
of me.
" We have never uttered a syllable against him as a private in-
dividual. On the contrary, we have uniformly spoken of him as a
man of talent, of most amiable character, of piety, of integrity, of un-
tiring zeal for his church and creed. — Bennett, May 21, 1844.
Now, sir,. look out for
■ EXPEEIMENT No. 1.
" Bishop Hughes, from having been a good gardener, a raiser of
cabbages and carrots, has become a Bishop of the Church, and now
tends souls instead of salads, but his original tastes still exists. He is
one of the most fawning sycophants to power that ever presided in the
Church, and all those who have money and power, of any church, are
his polar stars. He wants all manliness and independence.''^ — Bennett,
May 12, 1841.
i)id you observe any motion of the arms? Can you trace the
letters ? Now, it is manifest that this result is in spite of tiie voli-
tion of Bennett's will. It is the homage which falsehood pays to
the majesty of truth, not by the application of external force, not by
the free will of the worshippers, but by the unsuspected, hidden,
but almighty power that is inherent in truth itself.
Hear him again :
" So long as Bishop Hughes conducted the controversy before the
Common Council of the city — so long as he sought in his own sphere,
and by the appropriate weapons, reason and argument, to convince
men of the accuracy of his views and the justice of his projects,
he was not liable to censure. And so long as he thus conducted the
agitation. Bishop Hughes received no censure from us. We
might have differed with him ; but we should, indeed, have merited
the full viiils of his wrath, and that of all men, had we denounced
nim or interfered with him, so long as he kept in his own sphere
and within his legitimate limits, as the religious guardian of his
people. But from the A'ery moment when he first departed from the
place of a Christian Bishop, and adopted the disreputable weapons
of a mere political gladiator, from that moment he became amenable
t
ILETTEE TO COL. STONE. 479
to the censure of public opinion, and fi-om that moment we denounced
him." — Bennett, May 25, 1844.
Now, sir, in order to prepare for Experiment No. 2, I beg you to
bear in mind that things were exactly in the situation here described,
when Bennett wrote the following attack, published before the meet-
ing at Carroll 1 1 all:
Experiment No. 2.
" Bishop Hughes, who fi-om the highly respectable trade of raising
cabbages (having been a capital kitchen gardener once on a day,)
became a raiser of Catholics and Christians, has the sole merit of
originating this small potato question. He started the project a few
years ago, in humble imitation of Daniel 0' Connell and the ' rirait,' one
of its purposes being to organize the Irish Catholics of New York
as a distinct party, that could be given to the Whigs or Loco Focos at the
wave of his crazier.'''' — Bennett, 29lh October, 1841.
Do you see any jerking here again ? Do you see any new mark
on Bennett's forehead branded by his own hand ?
Again, still :
" There is one charge however in this letter which is so extra-
ordinary, so inexplicable, so atrocious .that we must notice it to-day.
The charge is, that we once attacked Mrs. Daniel O'Connell, the
venerable and pious wife of Daniel himself, and that this was the
cause of the brutal treatment which we received from the celebrated
O'Connell when we visited the Corn Exchange, Dublin. This is,
indeed, a piece of information which has completely astounded us.
We never dreamed of such an accusation, as may surely be well
believed, when we never wrote a syllable, or uttered a word, or
even thought of Mrs. O'Connell, in the whole course of our life.
The entire falsity, the utter impossibility of our having written or
printed a line against Mrs. O'Connell is at once apparent, when it is
known that during the last twenty years that I have been connected
with the press in this country — nearly one half of which period as
proprietor and conductor of the Wew York Herald — up to the affair in
the Corn Exchange, in every reference to O'Connell, I expressed
admiration of the man, and. column after column I have written
defending him, and even attempting to apologize for his attack on
the Southern institutions of this country. Attack Mrs. O'Connell !
A more daring and deliberate falsehood than this never proceeded
from the Father of Lies. I cast it back on Bishop Hughes with all
the burning indignation which can be imagined in one so grossly
assailed — one who never, even by implication, attacked any female in
iiny mode or shape whatever. Thus much on that point." — Bennett,
May 21, 1844.
Experiment No. 3,
" We would advise O'Connell not to make the tour of the United
States for the sake of h.is numerous children and concubines, who
mio;ht be left fatherless and comfortless. Will our readers believe
480 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
that this same moral rascal, O'Connell, once made a public boast that
he never spared a man in his anger, or a woman in his lust. His
wife once, in order to shame this scoundrel, collected together six
young women whom he had seduced, and employed them about his
house in various menial capacities. Yet this heartless, unprincipled,
cowardly wretch, has the unblushing effrontery," etc. — Bennetts
Herald, vol. iv, No. 130.
This is, perhaps,' one of the most interesting experiments of the
whole ; and the phenomena of galvanism can exhibit nothing like it.
You see that, in opposition to his own will, he has fixed the first
brand on his own forehead in reference to Mrs. O'Connell. And
now I want to see whether the moral influence of truth will no*
compel him to fix another, crosswise, in reference to the same subject.
" To my great surprise and astonishment, (he says) these remarks
were of an offensive character and such as it never could have
entered into my mind to cbnceive (?) I knew nothing of them whatever,
till I read them in my own paper the next morning. I was indeed
exceedingly chagrined at the time, and remonstrated severely with
the gentleman who wrote them." [The gentleman who wrote them !]
— Bennett, May 23, 1844.
Now, see whether the phenomenon of a cross-brand \b to be realized
according to my theory of truth.
" Every editorial article which appears in the Herald is written in
this office, by whom it matters not ; but all written under the control
and superintendence of one mind." — Bennett, January 22, 1844.
In the following experiment, I shall make Bennett, for the enter-
tainment of the spectators, go through another comjuourarf movement of
this kind, which cannot but prove very interesting. In the first
place, in order to understand the question, he invents a meeting of
" Native Americans," composes speeches for them ; and as if his
intention were to direct any mob that might afterwards arise to the
burning of our churches, te publishes in one of these speeches "that
there are dungeons under St. Patrick's Cathedral, which can be
intended for no other purpose than the imprisonment and torture of
the Protestant ministers of the city, when the Catholics should gain
the ascendancy." In reference to this subject he says, a few days
afterwards : ^
" The Express of this city, a most miserable concern, actually had
the audacity yesterday to declare, with spasmodic wrigglings that
all this movement was a hoax, and that all those speeches which are
now, through our instrumentality, circulating all over the country, is
a hoax. We can only say that the speakers thus ridiculed, and so
unceremoniously voted out of existence, could give the miserable
creatures of the Express proofs of their identity of their flesh and
blood existence, equally striking and convincing as that which the
honest countryman gave the philosopher who had very learn jdly
argued in his hearing that there was no such thing as motion " —
Bennet, November 23, 1843.
Here, you perceive, is the denial of the forgery. Now then for
LBTTKE TO COL. STONE. 481
Experiment No. 4.
" And in order to place the whole plan of operations before the
new party and before the public, we got up the famous '■American
Republican meeting in American Republican Hall, between Broad-
way and the Bowery,' which was a piece of imagination, and intended
to present, in a practicable and intelligible form, the best mode
of conducting the new agitation — the best plan of carrying on the
canvass — and the topics which most properly invited the attention
of the speakers and leaders of the movement. And this succeeded
admirably. The ground we thus pointed out, in a practical, and at the
same time delicate and rmobtrusive manner, was given by the leaders of
the movement, and the agitation went on from that hour with spirit
and success. All the proceedings of the party were reported accord-
ingly by us, and the public in this way kept regularly informed of the
views, the purposes, and the progress of the reform party. It is
true, that the Express and other papers blustered a good deal, and
cried out 'forgery' — but that did not prevent our mode of present-
ing the true, tenable ground of the new party from producing the
desired effect.'''' — Bennett, April 20, 1844.
The shedding of human blood, and the burning down of Catholic
Churches might be anticipated, as the natural, (whether it was the
" desired,") effect of such jjublications or not. And the wailing
families and ruined temples of another city can best declare whether
the means and end have not been in true keeping with each other.
But, at any rate, you see by applying the latent force of truth, his
hands fly up against his will, and fix another melancholy br.and upon
his forehead. As a small sequel to all this, I will just mention, that
after having directed, as far as he could, the attention of any mob
that might be, against the Catholic churches — after having fanned
the embers of social division into a flame — after having seen the
earth crimsoned with human blood, which ought to have been
reserved for the defense of the country, and all this, as I have said,
the natural, if not the desired effect of his villanous falsehoods, he
can discover in it all, even now, nothing more than an equality with
one of the "moral essays known under the title of ^sop's
Fables." There is this difference however, that ^Hop''s Fables did
not tend to arson and bloodshed ; and the only similarity that the
comparison suggests, is, that physically, according to the ancients,
^sop was a beauty — and so, I am told, is Mr. Bennett.
But, 1 trust the experiments already made are sufficient to establish
my theory of the latent power of Truth over Falsehood — as being
vastly more wonderful in its action on mind, than galvanism itself
in its application to inanimate, but articulate bodies.
There is one infallible test proving that any religion, so called,
which inspires men with hatred, , one toward another, even on
account of religious difference cannot insomuch, be of God ; for God
is love. True religion inspires us with sentiments of love towards
God, first, and above all ; and next, love toward our neighbor as
31
482 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
ourselves. Now, our Saviour^as taught us most beautifully, in the
example of the good Samaritan, that love for our neighbor means
all mankind. You, yourself sir, have once illustrated this admirable
and infallible text, so far as sentiment and feeling are concerned, of
true religion. And although my opinion, on such a topic, will be
received as little worth, I will say — there never was a prouder day
for the Protestant religion which you profess, and for your own fame,
than that on which you rejected the testimony of Maria Monk;
albeit she ^as endorsed by' reverend hands as a hopeful convert from
Popery, and her filthy book recommended as a veracious and
opportune production. I will make bold to say that in sickness or
in health, in life or at death, you cannot look back except with
pleasvrable emotions to that proud day, on which, understanding! the
true interests and honor of your religion better than its official
advocates, you exclaimed with honorable indignation :
Non talibus auxiliis, non defensoribua istis.
But how, sir, could you have so far forgotten what was due to
the memory of that day, as to receive the testimony, not of a
Protestant^like Maria Monk, but of " a Roman Catholic editor,'''' as you
had the cruelty to call him in your paper, of the 30th day of October,
1841. If you had given Bennett's statement without the endorse-
ment of your own respectable name, his character would have been
an antidote to the poison which he circulates ; and the deplorable
results which since followed, would in all probability never have
occurred. But I shall not press this matter on your attention, at
the present time. In fact, from what I read of him in your paper,
and other respectable Journals, I supposed that their editors would
not have been willing to have placed the slightest confidence in him
in regard to any matter involving truth and honor. And yet what
was my astonishment in beholding him converted under your pen
into " a Roman Catholic editor," and his testimony received by you
as if you regarded it with habitual confidence. The man himself I
have never seen ; but my opinion of him had been already formed
by two circumstances which, for me, were quite enough. One was
that he was understood, in Philadelphia, I think, to have published
private and confidential letters; another was that he seemed to deny
and repudiate his country and countrymen. The first is the only
service he could render to the land of Bruce and "Wallace ; and for
the second there is another reason, no doubt, which his countrymen
can explain. It seems, however, that though born in Scotland he
makes a good " Native American." He says,
" Why," asked my friend, " don't you go among your country-
men oftener ?" " Do you mean the Scotch," said I. "I do," said
he. " Then I'll tell you the reason, they are a d — d scaly set, from
top to bottom, and when I pass them in the street I always take the
windward side, and avoid shaking hands as I would avoid the itch.'
Ha ! ha ! ha ! ho ! ho ! ho ! " No, sir," continued I, " my friends are
the ' Natives.' I'll stick to the Natives— a, fig for the Scotch."
I do not know at what period Bennett wrote this, but I had a
I.ETTEH TO COL. STOliTB. 483
vague recollection of it in my own mind ■w'hich is confirmed by the
quotation here given, and which may be found in the " Life and
Writings of James Gordon Bennett," page 8. ,
But it appears that he is not only a " Kative," but that he has
their principles — at least so far as the Bible is concerned. You
would suppose that if not brought up in one of our public schools
himself, he would recommend the system of these schools by its
results in his own conduct and character. He says r
" I was educated a strict Catholic, but it was an enlightened Catholic
My school book in my boyish days was the Bible, King James'
Bible, the Protestant Bible. Yet I never found that the reading
■ of thiit Bible at school ever left any bad effects behind. On the
contrary it left good effects. It filled the young mind with the
glorious images, the classic language, the noble ideas, and the ever-
living principles of true religion from its upper fountains. There can
be no harm to a good, moral, liberal and intelligent Catholic in
having the Bible, yes, even the Protestant Bible in school. The
Bible is the Bible in every language, in every translation, in every
church, in every sect. Bishop Hughes, committed ^a most fatal
mistake ever to raise that littlje, narrow, bigoted question" about
different translations before this Christian and intelligent community."
— Bennett, April 15, 184:4:.
What could Mr. Hiram Ketchum himself, say more than this ?
And if Bennett be an example of the moral effects of such training,
what stronger reason can we have for making its adoption universal
in our public schools ? from which, by the by, apart from particular
translations, I never asked that it should be excluded.
Bennett has pretended that his assaults on me, of which I have
two or three dozen still in reserve, were made in consequence of ray
conduct at Carroll Hall, and then only for the public good. This is
entirely false. His grossest assaults were made before the occurrence
at Carroll Hall took place. Until then, ever by his own showing, I
had done nothing to authorize his assaults under the plea of publio
good. Yet, my admitted innocence did not protect me. But why
shonld I speak of myself? Is there a clergyman of any denomina-
tion whom he has spared ? My amiable and saintly predecessor, even
at the age of " 10 years and upwards," could not be allowed to
„ escape.
" Bishop Dubois is not a patriarch: — he does not effect reforms by
his example, or by pastoral advice and government. No, no. ,JIe is
doing Catholicity a service as the devil did Job a semMS— by his
WANT OF ALL EXAMPLE— -by his BNTIEE MISGOVEElTMEIfT — ^by hiS
cupricious and ridiculous tyrnnny. . .The conduct of Bishop Dubois
has long given great offense to the Catholics. Capricious, tyrannical,
HEARTLESS, , OLD-WOMANISH and absurd, he has .reduced and is
reducing the standard of Catholicity to a standard that would make
Maria Monk pity it, and Dr. Brownlee say prayers for its safety," —
Bennett, Sept. 9th, 1836.
Was it for the public good that such a foul attack was made on an
484 IRCHBISHOP HUGHES.
amiable and aged clergyman — whose age and character should have
shielded him ? N"o, no. There is nothing of public good in the question.
And even as regards the ISTative American party, whatever its
principles were, I cannot believe that they breathed the spirit of
extermination which would appear from Bennett's reports of their
proceedings. For instance, describing the sensation produced by an
appeal in one of their meetings, he has, " (Loud applause.) — Cries
of never — we'll die &rstr^-we'll kill the old Pope and every one
BELONGING TO HIM FIRST." — Bennelfs Herald Nov. 25, 1843.
I have underlined the words as making the spirit which Bennett
ascribes to the meeting. It is probable that this is one of the " gems
of his ribaldry," just as the " shillelahs" were at Carroll Hall. But
on the other hand, is it not most dangerous to jSnd him on the day
preceding this, as if his object were to urge on the thoughtless and
the wicked to bloodshed, circulating the following atrocious
slander ?
" We hear it whispered that the Irish Repeal Abolitionists, who
have been organized by Bishop Hughes and John McKeon, intend
to make an attack upon the Young Americans, and to drive them
out of the Sixth."— 5ereree«, Nov. 24:th, 1843.
And all this, whilst he himself had borne testimony to the peace-
able conduct of the Irish, as the following passage Avill show — •
" The German population alone have raised a voice against the
movement of this party, and strange as it may appear, the Irish
adopted citizens, who are generally' the first in the field, lie as
dormant as terrapins in December." — Bennett, Oct. 24, 1843.
Materials of this kind thicken around me as I advance in my
subject ; but I shall give it up for the present, out of sheer disgust! A
free press is essential to a free country, . And w^hilst we know that
licentiousness is inseparable from freedom, we must be prepared to
bear with the evil for the sake of the good. ' I think this letter will
teach even Mr. Bennett that editors have duties as well as rights in
conducting a free press ; And that the instrument which they abuse
by licentiousness, constitutes after all the most powerful and rigid
tribunal, at which to arraign them, for perverting it from its
legitimate use. If Bennett had public motives for pouring the
torrent of his slanders upon me for the last six years, I trust the
same motives will justify me for vindicating myself, and for pointing
out the dangers to which everything in the domestic and social rela-
tions of life is exposed from the unscrupulous abuse of a free press,
by an editor without moral principle. Some one will ask me, whether
in writing as I have done, I have not violated charity. My answer
is, that I have not. I admit that if Bennett were a man who
regarded either charity or truth, in his attacks upon others ; or if
those attacks were without their influence on society at large, then
indeed, I know that I should be violating this heavenly virtue. But
Bennett has placed himself in such a position toward society, that
if I were charitable to the community, I must seem to be uncharitable
toward him. Just imagine if you can an incarnation of demonism
LETTEK TO COL. STONE. ' 485
placing itself on the liigliways of civilized society — ranging with pry-
ing inspection, around tlie whole circle of official, commercial, social,
and domestic life ; just as the freebooter sweeps the ocean-horizon
with his telescope, looking for prey; imagine that incarnation, rush-
ing on its victim with some fatal necret of guilt or misfortune, (the
wounds of which might heal, if allowed the natural ■ privilege of
shade and silence) ; whispering that fatal secret with sardonic triumph
into the ears of those who thought it was unknown, and then —
waving to and fro the scorpion lash of its infernal whip, until lean
or money ^ or hoth^ are made to gush forth abundantly, — and then you
will have conceived my idea of the powers that may be exercised by
a bad man, having the command of a free press. You say Bennett
is too contemptible for notice ; then answer me the question, why is
it that society sustains his paper ? You say he is too contemptible
for notice ; and why is it that you are afraid of Mm and that you
would rather lose |lOO any time than incur his enmity — out of
regard, if not for yourself, at least for your little daughter who
climbs on your knee, or, as O'Connell expressed it in the poetry of
his grief, " for the lamb that slept in your bosom," — knowing very
well, as you do, that though you fear not, a " poisoned arrow" may
be prepared for them when you least expect it. You say that he is
too contemptible for notice ; and yet, female curiosity will read his
paper to see what he has to say about others, — whilst female modesty
blushes and trembles, at the very idea of itself being made the
object of his remarks. Let society show a healthy tone of moral
courage ; lex those who by mistake, take up his paper in the morn-
ing, wash their hands again, before going to breakfast; let them
cease to grow pale at the idea of having incurred Bennett's enmity,
and then, if you tell me that he is " too contemptible for notice," I
will admit you to be sincere, and a believer of what you say. But
until then I cannot, agree with you ; and I assert, whilst I do not
fear him, that Bennett is not too contemptible to deserve notice'.
I have now submitted the entire case before that tribunal to
which the honored man, who was a chaplain to the Congress of
Independence said no honest citizen need appeal in vain ; namely,
public opinion, as it exists among the American people. I ask no
partial judgment, and I do not anticipate that one of prejudice shall
be pronounced against me. Here are the facts, every man who
reads can understand them. But I think that at this moment, and
without presumption I might be allowed to appeal to the conductors
of the public press, to do me according to their own sense of right,
simple justice in the premises. Many of them have been misled,
and, without intending it, have done me injustice. I have had no
resentment, because I have not considered this as wilful or deliberate
on their part. But if the time has como when circumstances have
compelled me to meet my detractors, is it too much to expect that
they will record the sentence which their feelings of honor and sense
of justice may dictate? Is it too much to expect this even of
" Native Americans ?" if they are worthy of the proud title of >vhicb
486 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
/
they boast, but which, in order to continue a proud title, must be
sustained by magnanimous feelings and honorable virtues.
Allow me again, sir, in conclusion, to quote the principle of moral
philosophy laid down at the head of this letter, namely — that there
is nothing more powerful than Falsehood except Truth alone. The
whole of this letter, I think, establishes the soundness of this
principle. It is full of egotism, I know. But it professes to be so.
It professes to treat of Bishop Hughes — the assailed of a thousand
calumniators — and of James Gordon Bennett, the first and persever-
ing chief of those assailants. The principles represented on the one
side, and on the other, have both triumphed, the one in the just but
imperfect provision of the Legislature of New York, in extending
the blessings of education to the children of this city — this was
the triumph of truth. The other has triumphed, also, under the
auspices of Mr. Bennett and his colleagues, and (alas for 'the honor
of our country !) may be read in gilt letters on the ruined walls of
St. Augustine's : " The Lord Seeth."
I remain, sir, respectfully, your obedient serv't,
>i« JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York.
THIRD LETTER OF THE RIG-HT REVEREND
BISHOP HUG-HES.
Rejoinder to Col. William L. Stone, Editor of the Commercial
Advertiser.
Respected and Deae Sir, — On unfolding your paper of the 6th
inst., I felt gratified at beholding your letter of five columns, inas-
much as it seemed to furnish the evidence of restored health. This
feeling however was somewhat damped by a perusal of the letter,
which furnished to my mind at least intrinsic evidence that you are
still far from being well. That, however, is a matter which I leave
in the hands of the faculty. I have read your long letter. I find
in it nothing but " words, words, words." Indeed it seems to me
that I have refuted most of it, even in the form of words or asser-
tions as it was presented at various times by Mr. Hiram Ketchum
under his own name. There are but a very few passages on which
I think it worth while to make any commentary. It is true, you
repeat some of the assertions which have been made by the editor of
the " morning paper," and which have in his case, been proved by
FACTS to have heen falsehoods. If your repetition could by any pro-
cess make them true, then indeed I should consider them worthy of
notice.
You have rejid my two letters ; you have seen those letters com-
posed of facts and arguments, and you have not ventured more than
Mr. r>ennett to deny a single fact set forth by me in either. You
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 487
have not been able to rebut my arguments by the adduction of a
single opposite fact ; and so long as you leave these documents in
that situation — so long will your letters and your columns and your
paragraphs amount to " words, words, words " — mere assertion
and nothing more. 'Now, sir, between facts on one side and mere
assertion on the other, I have no hesitation in leaving the matter to
the judgment of that tribunal, before which we both stand.
I will but just present for your consideration a few reflections
that have been suggested by the perusal of your letter. And first
of all, allow me to say I shall pass over without comment the many
paragraphs of allusion to myself, in which no doubt you supposed
you were accomplishing feats of satirical sublimity. That you should
shrink with horror from any kind of partnership with Bennett, is
precisely what I anticipated, and precisely what caused me to ex-
press my regret, that you should have selected for yourself, in his
regard, the position in which my letters, or rather your own course,
exhibited to you. You say :
" I am -not going to rail at Bennett, or to express my indignant
fastidiousness at the association. I set it forth as a specimen of what
some of your friends have styled ' a most calm and dignified appeal
to reason instead of the passions and prejudices of men.' Your ruse in
this respect, however, exhibits about as much refined taste, to say
nothing of its argument, as if I should couple your name with that
of the celebrated Monroe Edwards.
" What, Rev. sir, do you shrink from the association ? Well you
may, and I will not make it. But Monroe Edwards is of your own
church. He, like yourself, is an able and accomplished man, and like
yourself has he complained bitterly of the attacks made upon him
in the newspapers. Still, I will not persevere in the association,
although this community will, beyond all doubt, justify me in the
introduction of a parallelism which cannot be any more ofiensive to
you, than you supposed would be to me the peculiar connection in
which you presented my name to the public, or should I even repre-
sent the Carroll Hall orator and the tenant of Sing Sing as respect-
ively the head and tail of the Romish Antichrist."
I thank you, sir, for not pressing this association too closely. And
yet, if I had endorsed the notes of Mr. Monroe Edwards, as you did
those of Bennett, I do not see how I could escape it. You under-
stand the Value of the term in commercial afiTairs and its moral
bearing is somewhat analogous. Besides, you cannot plead ignorance
of the " morning paper " from which you copied. Not so in regard
to those who were imposed upon by Edwards. Until the Jliwle of
his career, very honorable and intelligent men were deceived by
him. But Bennett had not this advantage over you, for you knew
him well. If, therefore, I had been unfortunate enough to be in any
manner connected with such a man as Monroe Edwards, under the
same circumstances as you identified yourself with the "Roman
Catholic editor of the morning paper," I should certainly feel morti-
fied, but I do not see that I ought to be offended, at being reminded
488 AECIIBISHOP HrGHES.
of the connection. The one is expatiating the guilt of his bold and
iniquitous career — the other is expatiating his also in his own way.
But I believe that in reference t :> both, your opinion and mine would
exhibit sufficient agreement. It seems to me that the picture of
each may be found drawn with sufficient distinctness in the lines of
the poet.
" Who steals my purse, steals trash ; 'tis soiu4thing — nothing ;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name,
^ Robs me of that which not enriches him.
And makes me poor ' indeed."
Which of the characters here imagined by the poet, is more de-
spicable, it is not difficult to ascertain. But you say Monroe Edwards
is a Catholic. This may be. The Catholic religion has furnished as
bad men as any other ; still, I wish to inquire whether you make
this assertion of your own knowledge or not. I hope you have not
again trusted to some " morning paper " — but at any rate, it is a
rule in logic that what is gr.atuitously asserted may be gratuitously
denied. I deny, therefore, the assertion that Monroe Edwards is a
Catholic, and I call on yon for the proofs.
It was a waste of words for you to undert.ake proving that I made
a speech at Carroll Hall. But it was not ingenuous on your part to
suppress or overlook the fact, that you, among others, had endea-
voured to bring the representatives of the people imder the iniquitous
obligation of refusing to grant the petition however just it might
be, of those who wished an alteration in the School Laws. This was
" the ungenerous trick" to which I lately called your attention. It
was you and your colleagues who first mingled religion with politics
in that question. And whilst you recommended those exclusively
who should oppress one portion of the people, my recommendation
was for those who should do "justice to all classes."
As to your dissertation on the various systems of common school
education, I have \ ery little to say. My own preference would be
for a system which, if it were practicable, might allow, without in-
terfering with or infringing the provisions of the law, each denomina-
tion to instruct its own children in its own peculiar views of religion.
But if this cannot be done, then for my own part, I am resigned to
any system in which the rights guaranteed by the Constitution shall
be secured to the children of each denomination, equally. This is
all, and I presume that in this, unless the framers of the Constitution
made a great blunder in allowing liberty of conscience at all, you
will find nothing to cavil at. As to the Bible 'v\ the common schools,
I see no great objection to it, provided it be in conformity with the
principles just laid down. If you force the Catholic Bible on Protes-
tant children against their will, you inflict an injury, in my opinion, on
the religious right.s of those children and their parents ; and the injury
is just as great a violation of right, as if you force the Protestant Bible
on Catholic children against their will, or that of their parents. It
Beems to me that you will hardly queetion the correctness of this view ,
LETTER TO COL. STONE. 489
find if you do not, then there is nothing between us to dispute about.
As to the Protestant version, to the examination of which you invite
my attention, I tliink it would be a work of supererogation. Or, if
YOU are determined on that subject, you will please to begin by re-
futing the very many learned and able critics of the Protestant
Communion, who have rejected the version of King Jarnes, and
adopted or recommended others, for reasons which they allege, and
v.-hioli you can attempt to refute, if you please.
You seem disposed to hold me accountable for whatever may be •
said in the papers that are nominally or really Catholic, such as the
Freemuri's Journal and others. My last letter ought to satisfy you
that I regard " a free press as essential to the well-being of a free
country." Accordingly I exercise no censorship of authority over
these or any other papers, each of them has its own editor, and so
far as I am concerned, I wish him to enjoy the same rights, subject
-to the same responsibilities, which are enjoyed by the editor of the
Commercial Advertiser. If he violates the honorable trust reposed
in him by the public, by deceiving those who expect truth from the
conductors of a public press, then let him be held accountable. The
only paper I have any connection with is the Freeman's Journal, and
no man can find anything of party politics in its columns. The other
papers, so far as I know, profess to take an interest in politics ; and
I maintain, without expressing any opinion on the propriety of so
. doing, that their editors have the same legal right that you have.
In reference to the very disingenuous view which you give of my
efforts to prevent any collision through the excitement produced by re-
cent events, you certainly have overlooked what could not have es-
caped your attention, if your health had been perfectly restored.
• My statement on that subject was to the effect that I had used every
exertion to prevent that portion of tbe population under my spiritual
charge, from being driven into combination, under the plea of neces-
sary self-defence. This you turn most disingenuously into a mean-
ing which I never could have intended — as if, I claimed the power
of keeping the peace or creating riot at ray own option.
This perversion of statements which the public ' understand per*
fectly well, does you no credit. A true Christian judges charitably
of the intention of the others, whenever the opportunity is presented,
without doing violence to the evidence of language and of facts.
And, to suppress circumstances, to distort facts, to pervert language,
in order to bring out a deceptions, false and uncharitable interpreta-
tion, is utterly irreconcilable with the idea of a true Christian man.
The man whose breast is pure is slow to suspect except on strong
evidences. And to behold everything with a jairndiced eye proves
no change in the object, but rather the diseased condition of him
who looks upon it.
What I have just said will explain your misconception and mis-
statements in regard to my official relations with the Church, as
clashing with my private Obligations to my country. It is a calum-
ny which even the intolerance of the British Government has been
490 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. i
at last obliged to acknowledge. It is a calumny Avhich cannol be ut-
tered except in contempt of the laws of our own freer and happier
republic. It is a calumny which no educated man will believe, and
to which no educated man ought to give utterance. If it were not
a calumny, its legitimate consequence would be to deprive Catholics
in this country of the right of discharging any civil trust, whereas
the Constitution of the country acknowledges them as entitled
equally with their fellow-citizens to fill any office to which they may
be appointed.
In relation to the lines quoted by you from the Freeman'' s Journal
as indicative of conspiracy and treason, I can only assure you that I
had never seen them in that paper, until your reference directed my
attention to the subject. I confess that in the garbled form with the
underlining of particular words and the evil purpose which they re-
ceive from the suggestions of your mind, I saw them, as quoted by
you, with regret and displeasure. But, on referring to the poetic
effusion from which they are taken, I found nothing treasonable in
the purpose, nor defective in the poetry. You are aware that from
the time of old Horace, "poets and painters" have claimed a'ld been
allowed by all civilized nations a " license" peculiar to themselves.
It is on this account, that when the young genius of the land plumed
its poetic wings during the recent political contest in this city, I
never complained, albeit the sentiments were such as A rigid prose
writer like you would be sure to condemn. Let us give a couple of
small specimens. The author of the following lines, as we read in
the Native American Paper, where they were published, is Mr. De Le
Ree. They breathe patriotism as well as poetry :
" Tour wives shall praise j'ou for your deeds.
Your sweethearts hug you in their arms.
If once you pluck these foreign weeds
That have been growing on your farms.
" Just cast them out upon the road
And never let them in your lot.
You've found they were a heavy load.
Then dump and send them all to pot."
But to show that poetic genius is no monopoly among " Native
Americans," we have the following specimen ascribed in the same
paper to Mr. Job Haskell. "*
" And did those mighty heroes intend their sons for slaves,
To bow to foreign bishops who crossed the ocean's waves ?
No I a voice comes booming o'er our vast extended plain,
March on my brave Americans, if thousands sfiould be slain.
" And shall our Common Schools, the Republic's strongest hope
Be wielded bv deceitful Priests, a Bishop, or the Pope ?
LETTEK TO COL. STONE. 491
Ifo 1 answers free-born millions ; give them a traitor's grave,
Advance, advance, Americans — your boasted bulwarks save.
"Loud sounds the sacred bugle, the American youth dash on,
Base foreigners shall bite the ground — oor war-cry, Washington," <fec
Now, sir, in both of these it might seem to a dull proser that very
objectionable ideas and purposes were inculcated. You will cer-
tainly think so. But I throw myself back on the old canon of li-
cense that has always been granted to poets and painters. And so
I interpret the words "if thousands should be slain" ; they do not
signify as you would imagine literally slaying, but only poetic slaugh-
ter. So also " give them a traitor's grave" means a grave of poetry.
And " base foreigners shall bite the ground" is to be interpreted in
the same way.
To give you an idea of the spirit of the effusion from which you
have quoted, by insinuating a meaning which the poet never could
have intended, let me quote to you the first two stanzas, which seem
to be in reference to the freedom and independence ot the country :
" They're graven on the nation's heart —
The lofty deeds of yore.
When Tyranny, with trailing dart,
Shrank wailing from our shore —
They're blazoned on our banner, too,
And every crystal star
Illumes each serf's long-shrouded view,
And terror strikes each Czar.
\
" 'And on this consecrated soil
Would Persecution's hand
Tear down the patriot's work of toil —
Place on our flag a brand ?
Unsullied yet, that flag shall wave —
That fane unshaken stand.
While Freedom wield's a two-edged glaive
To curb each bigot band."
* * * * * *
These are the opening stanzas, and suggest the whole spirit of the
piece. It may have been written, for what I know, by a foreigner,
or what the Chinese would call an outside barbarian ; but then, we
are a civilized people, and we must extend to him, if he court the
muses, the same license that we do to our own poets.
It was, sir, much to be regretted that you had not Mr. Ketchum
at your elbow, whilst you were wilting your letter. For there is
nothing so injurious to a cause, as a discrepancy or direct contradic-
tion between the witnesses who are called upon to support it. There
are several such discrepancies in your letter. But I shall call your
attention to only two out of the whole number. Your words in one
place are :^"I had almost said we would rather see them (Protest-
ant children) Papists, than that an early infidel bias should be given
to their tender minds."
492 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
This, sir, is a sentiment which does you honor, but ^t the same
time shows how far you are beliind the HberaHty of your own age
and denomination. One of your most distinguished "Bishops" —
Dr. Spring— said in his speech before the Common Council — when
I uttered sentiments somewhat similar to yours :
" The gentleman has sought to prove that the present system leads
to infidelity. Now, sir, let nq man think it strange, that I (Dr.
Spring) should prefer infidelity to Catholicism. Even a mind as
acute as Voltaire's came to the conclusion, that if there was no al-
ternative between infidelity and the dogmas of the Catholic Church,
he should choose infidelity. I would choose, sie, in similae oie-
CUMSTANCES, TO BE AN INFIDEL T0-M0EE0"\V."
If the legal advocate of the Public Schools, already alluded to, had
been near you when you wrote your letter, he would not have al-
lowed you to put yourself in such direct contradiction to the Rev.
gentleman who gave utterance to the liberal sentiment. Again, you
write as follows :
" The system of public schools, thus established in this city, was
working admirably. It was the pride and glory of our city, and its
superintendence the occupation of our most virtuous and intelligent
citizens. The intelligent infidel even acquiesced in it. Sectarianism
was hushed, and bigotry w^as asleep, until, in an evil hour, you ap-
peared to trouble the waters."
Now, sir, referring to the same debate, we have Mr. Ketch um's
own authority for stating that long before I appeared or agitated
the tranquil waters of the Public system, that system had been as-
sailed by petitions from " the Episcopalians," — petitions from " the
Dutch Reformed Church" — petitions from " the Methodist Church,"
petitions from " the Baptist Church," and from " the Cathohc
Church," " time and again," to use his own elegant expression ! If,
then, all these denominations were so dissatisfied with the public
school system, that they petitioned respectively against it, you cm
judge for yourself how unfounded is that popularity which you as-
cribe to it, until I, as you say, began to find fault with the system.
Suppose all these denominations opposed to it, as Mr. Ketcham as-
serts, then I should like to know who were its friends — except those
who sympathise with Dr. Spring in the sentiment which he expres-
ses with so much naivete and candor. These are a few of the incon-
sistencies and contradictions to which I have alluded. But there
are other expressions also, sucli as " a predominant national religion
above the laws," that sound strangely in the ears of those who re-
gard the constitution of the counti-y as being the all-protecting in-
strument appointed for the protection of religious as well as civil
rights. And if there be " a predominant national religion" above
that instrument, it would suggest the inference that the Constitu-
tion itself is under its protection. At all events, the language is
novelin this country, and will give rise to some strange reflections.
This is all I have deemed it necessary to say in reference to your
letter. You have nC. opjjosed one single fact to those which I have
LETTEE TO COL. STONE. 493
laid down in my two former communications. Yoa have given, in-
deed, five colmnns of words, in which there is much vague declama-
tion, much personal abuse, which I shall not notice ; much ungene-
rous suspicion and unwarranted insinuation, much of assertion ; but
from under the whole mountain of words thus piled together, there
comes forth scarcely a mouse of sense or argument. Neither do 1
pretend to have dealt in argument in this letter. I have merely sug-
gehted a few considerations for your reflection and that of the pub-
lic, as they rose in mind, on the perusal of your letter. Having done
so, allow me to conclude by expressing the hope that your health
may be soon restored and, as the Spaniards would say, that you
may live a thousand years.
I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect,
Your humble and obedt. servt.
^ JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York.
June 7, 1844.
FOURTH LETTER OF BISHOP HUGHES.
"Be severe when animadverting upon evil practices or dan^rous principles, but be
NOT ABDSIVE, FOE THAT ONLY DISGKACE3 YOnrtSELF."
My Deak Colonel, — The above is taken from a Native Ameri-
can paper as a hint to editors, and I admire the humanity of tlie
writer if his object was to suggest to you in a delicate manner the
great fault of your letters, in the hope, no doubt, that for your own
sake you would avoid its repetition. You must be aware that I had
no other purpose in writing, except to vindicate myself from the
charges which you and Mr. Bennett have been foremost to circulate,
and which I have called upon you to prove. I had supposed that
the justice of public opinion would allow no man in this country,
to be abridged of that fair reputation to which an unexceptionable
conduct entitles him.
If I have organized my flock into a political party — if I have at-
tempted to keep up national distinctions in the community — if I have
made appeals to religious prejudices — if I have sought to expel the
Bible from the public schools — if I have solicited the blackening of
the public school books — if I have allied myself with any political
party or individual — if I have done any action or uttered any senti-
ment unworthy of a Christian Bishop and an American citizen, you
and Mr. Bennett who have accused me of all these things, must now
either furnish the proof or stand before the community as false ac-
cusers. T assert positively as facts that I have done none of the
things here mentioned. If I have, you must be in possession of the
facts which prove it. This, properly speaking, constitutes the only
question in controversy between us. I appeal to the justice of public
opinion on all these charges, and, nothing but facts will be sufficient
494 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
to disprove my denial of them. I have called on you for the facts
in reference to any one of these charges, and it appears, so far, that
you have no facts to produce. Then, sir, your accusations fall to the
ground, like those of your degraded leader—" the Roman Catholic
editor of a morning paper." In my first letter I laid down all the
propositions that were necessary to cover my whole character and
conduct as facts which are to be overthrown, if assailed at all, not
by sophistry or argument, but by other facts, with witnesses, which
will prove them untrue. Now, therefore, James Gordon Bennett,
William L. Stone and ye other deceivers of the public, stand forth and
meet Bishop Hughes. But then, come forth in no quibbling capacity;
come forth as honest men, as true American citizens, with truth in your
hearts and candor on your lips. I hiow you can write well — and can
multiply words and misrepresent truth— this is not the thing that will
serve yon now. Come forth with your pacts. Bishop Hughes places
himself in the simple panoply of an honest man before the American
people. He asks no favor — but he simply a-sfcs whether the opinion of
Bishop White is true, that with the American people no man can be put
down by calumny ? Bring, therefore, your facts to disprove the forego-
ing negative propositions. Bishop Hughes pledges himself to prove those
that are affirmative, if you, or any decent man with his signature, will
deny them. [See the propositions in my letter to Mayor Harper.]
Have you denied the truth of one of those propositions ? Have
you stated one solitary fact opposed to their truth? Not one ! If,
therefore, these propositions be true, as I contend they are, and as
you have not disproved by any fact, then, sir, I am in a position to
say to you also — you " have borne false witness against your neigh-
bor."
Ah ! but you say I made a speech at Carroll Hall, and you ask
whether Bennett's report of it was " a burlesque, a caricature, a false
representation ?" I answer, it was all three. If you will please to
turn to the 7th, 8th, and 9th pages of my second letter, you will see
the ^roo/ that it Was all three. You will perceive that when Ben-
nett denied this, the falsehood of the denial was then impressed on
the brazen forehead of its author. Yet this falsehood of his, you
endorse with your name. I trust, therefore, you will not consider
hereafter an association of your own choice with this man equally
offensive to you, as if you had been made the dupe of Monroe
Edwards. You say that " I represent Bennett's report as tlie founda-
tion of all my positions." Here again, sir, you are led into a per-
version of truth by too close an imitation of the "morning editor."
What I said was not the burlesque report merely, but, the whole
" Herald of the next morning." If you refer to page 16 of my second
letter, you will perceive that Bennett falsified truth in the spirit of
the articles, in the adjective, in the noun, and in the preposition, that
he falsified trnth in what he suppressed respecting my speech at
Carroll Hall. How then can you, unless you are ambitious of being
associated with Bennett, repeat the statements which stand an false-
hoods proven against him, when they were first uttered ?
LETTER TO COL. STO^^E. 496
Yon identify the report of that speech, as it is found in the Free-
man^s Journal, the Herald, and the Advertiser. Sir, if I could suppose
you competent to write, at the time your letter was penned, I should
regard this statement as something worse than disingenuous. You
had seen my letter as addressed to yourself. In that letter you saw
that, whether rightly reported or not, I admitted, and held myself
responsible for the speech in Carroll Hall, as reported in the Free-
man's Journal, " but not as it is found with the waving of shillelahs
in Bennett's Herald," and, I may now add, the Commercial Advertiser.
It suited your purpose to copy from the Herald, and it is too late now
for you to pretend that the association dishonors you. Yet, sir, I shall
not put you in the same situation in regard to this, in which I placed
Mr. Bennett. I shall not apply to you the moral force of truth which
left such indelible characters impressed upon his brow, although so
far as it regards the new theory of stimmautology, it would have
been my interest, or rather the interest of the science, to have se-
lected you for the experiment, as being a more impressible subject.
I need hardly say to you, that the scientific and technical term stim-
mautology means in common language, nothing more than the science
of self-branding.
I perceive, however, that you make a distinction. You admit it
possible that Bennett's report was unfair, that there was a,suppressio
veri, but you deny that this " mars the sense ;" and with a hardi-
hood on which your great leader would not have ventured, you still
insist upon its being verbatim ei literatim. On reading this assertion
of yours, I should be tempted to treat its author in the manner he
deserves, if it were not that you are said to be indisposed, and so
far entitled to consideration. But on the other hand, the fierce spirit
and harsh, not to say insulting, style of your letters appear to be
httle in harmony with the sober and unimpassioned feelings that are
most appropriate to a sick chamber. I am obliged, however, to re^
gard them as yours, for the signature, if not the composition, is your
property ; and it is not for me to say, whether you make the best
use of it, when you endorse for Bennett, or inscribe it at the foot of
such letters as have lately appeared in your name.
You have seen that in the " burlesque " report and commentaries
of Bennett, there were not only omissions of the true, but also addi-
tions of the false. Supposing that from a judge's charge to the jury,
you were to select out of fifteen paragraphs, only two or three, and
these apparently unaccountable in the absence of the reasoning and
law that had gone before, supposing you gave to these three para-
graphs a malignant interpretation directly the reverse of what the
reasoning of the suppressed passages was calculated to convey, would
not the public be justified in calling your pretended report a " bur-
lesque " and a " caricature " of the judge's charge ? Ah ! but say
you the same words, as far as they are reported, are found in both,
and " the svppressio veri " does not " mar the sense." Admirable critic
of the Commercial Advertiser ! To illustrate the absurdity of this
rule of criticiym, I will mention a Biblical anecdote, which I have
496 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
read, I forget where, but with which you, as a man .of learning and
experience, are no doubt well acquainted. It had reference to an
edition of King James' Bible, in which the negative particle of what
you call the seventh precept of the decalogue was om.itted. You
will contend that this svppressio veri does not mar the sense ! And
yet the difference between the real report in the decalogue and the
false report of the printer, had the effect to command the very crime
it was intended to forbid. Now, every word in the false report was
to be found in the true report. But there was one little word of
only three letters found in the true report which was not in the
false; and this may illustrate how far the suppressio veri may and
. does " mar the sense." When Bennett asserted that the report in
the Freema7i's Jotirnal, and that in his vile sheet were verbatim ei
literatim the same, he knew that he was writing falsehood, and the
public will know that you, should you venture to repeat it again,
will be writing, if you have not already written, under the same
consciousness. 1^ repeat what I have already stated to the public,
" that my speech at Carroll Hall was not the speech of a politician.
It was the speech of a man who has some reverence for the dignity
of human nature. It was the speech of an American who knows
and prizes the rights secured by the American Constitution, which
he would not wish to see violated in any denomination of Christians
more than in his ow^n." Read that speech as it is in the Freemari's
Journal. Is there any appeal to foreigners ? to Irish ? to Catholics ?
Politicians ? or to any class of beings, except so far as a principle
of clear, indisputable right and justice could be an appeal to the un-
derstanding, and the heart of every honest man ?
The meeting at Carroll Hall was for promoting education. There
is clear evidence on record, that at different times when some of the
speakers would introduce politics, I declared to them positively, that
the moment politics were introduced, I should quit their meetings.
Why was it, then, that the question forced itself upon usf This,
sir, will bring out the true facts of the case, which you and your col-
leagues have labored so diligently to conceal. You first fettered the
candidates of one party, and extorted from them a pledge, that (no
matter what might be the corruptions and abuses of the Public School
Society, no matter what might be the oppressions which that close
corporation might inflict upon a portion of the people :) the candi-
dates should go to the legislature, if sent at all, bound not to dare
touch, or alter, or amend, or improve that corporate system, in which
the people had no voice or right of election. Was it not shameful
that you should take a,way from the representatives of the whole com-
munity, in the legislature, the power to remove injustice, if injustice
should be found ? But not satisfied with this enslavement of the
candidates of one party, you attempted to put manacles on the can-
didates of the other also ; and you did find some of them willing, in-
stead of being the free and fair representatives of the whole people,
to go to Albany as the bondsmen wearing the yoke and livery ol
the Public School Corporation. It was the int(«tion of those who
LETTEE TO COT.. STONE. 497
wished a change in the Public School system, to lay their grievances
before the ensuing legislature, and to petition for their redress. What
would have been the use of their petitioning, if they, too, had voted
for men bound, especially bound, to deny even the justice of their
prayer ? Thus, the decision of their case, not by their choice nor by
mine, but by your artful arrangements, was anticipated, and brought
by you into a position in which they must either co-operate with you,
in perpetuating the grievance of which they had to complain, or else
- separate themselves, and show that they at least, would not know-
ingly vote against their own right to seek redress. My speech was
made simply to point out the trap which had been laid for them. It
was simply to tell them that they could not expect justice in the leg-
islature, if they became parties to the injustice themselves, by vot-
ing for men pledged to refuse it. This was on the 29th of October.
Up to that period, even Bennett avowed that there was nothing to
censure in my conduct. Observe, I do not quote Bennett as if he
were worthy of belief, even when he tells the truth. But knowing
as you know even the malignity with which he pursued me, before
that period, if I had left it in his power, he would not have failed to
denounce me, inasmuch as he does prefer truth to falsehood, when-
ever the former furnishes a higher gratification to his avarice and
revenge than the latter. I repeat, therefore, that his charges and yours
against me in connection with this subject are and have been false and
slanderous fromthe beginning. My addresses at all times in Carroll Hall
on the School Question were directed to citizens constituting, as I
supposed, a part of the great American family ; and if sometimes
I had occasion to allude to the countries of their fathers, or from
which many of themselves came, it was for the purpose of attaching
them the more strongly to that of their adoption ; to teach them
that here the constitution and laws are wise, and just, and liberal;
that under such laws if they suffered a wrong, they had but to seek
redress at the proper tribunals. This was the nation, of which I ex-
horted them to prove themselves worthy, and not any foreign coun-
try, as you erroneously assert. Who then, sir, I ask, was it who
first threw the religious elements of sectarian strife into this School
question ? I say, and I shall prove presently, that whilst I had no
*hand or part in it, the editor of the Commercial Advertiser, who ex-
pressed such holy horror at the " mixture," was himself among the
first to fling the bitter ingredients of religious animosity into the po-
litical cauldron. Ten days before the meeting at Carroll Hall, you.
Col. Stone, were the author of the following false and uncharitable
paragraph :
"The School Question. — So, the Pope has been at work at
Tamttiany Hall, and his votaries have obtained their demand of the
'party.' A portion of the assembly ticket nominated, is in favor of
breakiiig up our admirable system of common schools, and trans-
forming them into nurseries of the Romish Church. In other words,
if Messrs. Pentz & Co. can succeed in their schemes, the Pjiocest-
ANTS of the city are to be taxed for the support of Romak Catho-
32
498 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Lie Schools, AS SUCH. Are the Protestants of New York pre-
partd for this?" — Com. Advertiser, Vol. xliv., Tuesday evening,
Oct. 19, 1841.
This was written and the emphatic words underlined as above,
ten days before the meeting at Carroll Hall. Instead of being
ashamed of this inflammatory, sectarian appeal, founded as it was on
the gross calumny which it asserts, I find you quoting from my
speech in your last letter as follows, and of course refuting yourself:
" "We do not ask that any portion of the public money should be
confided to us, for the purpose of teaching our religion at the public
expense. Such a demand would be ABSURD, and would RICH-
LY MERIT THE REBUKE WHICH IT COULD NOT ES-
CAPE."
This was a part of my speech at Carroll Hall. You perceive that
it is a direct refutation of your calumny quoted above. And how
do you reply to it ? Do you say, as you should with advantage to
your honor, " We are sorry indeed that under a wrong impression,
we made a false charge against the Roman Catholics — that we have
thoughtlessly excited religious rancor among our citizens by to ap-
peal to them, not as Whigs or Locofocos — but as Protestants against
Oaiholics." No — no, nothing of this kind. I had answered your
calumny in my speech, and whilst that answer is before you —
Avhilst I acknowledge that if your statement had been true, " our
demand would be absurd, and would richly merit the rebuke which it
could not escape," your remark is — " That rebuke, sir, I am now ad-
ministering to you." But why my dear Colonel, ? I have proved that
I was innocent of the charge which merited the rebuke. I have
proved that when jiou made that charge you bore false witness
against your neighbor. Why then should you rebuke me ? I fear,
my poor friend, that you are very sick indeed.
But it is altogether astonishing that your memory should so en-
tirely have failed you on this subject. In the Commercial Advertiser
of Saturday, October 23, 1841, just one week before the meeting at
Carroll Hall, you published the following :
" THE ISSUE IN NEW YORK.
'' We learn that the County Convention for nominating Whig
candidates for the City and County of New York, adopted the fol-
lowing resolution, preliminary to the discharge of the special duty
for which they were chosen :
" Resolved, That this Convention •will not nominate any person as a candidate
for the Assembly, who is in favor of any alteration of the present system of the
distribution of the school fund."
This resolution was sufficiently clear in itself. It signified that no
alteriitioii, should be allowed in respect to any improvement in the
syst(!m of Public School education. Its authors took care not to in-
troduce the religious element into the expression of it. But not so
LETTBE TO COL. ^TONE. 49ft
Col. Stone. He again turns away from WhiE's, and appeals to
" Protestants." s ' Ff
" This resolution," he says, " was adopted by the convention with
but a single dissenting voice, and the Whig Assembly ticket has
been selected upon the principle therein set forth. Indeed the can-
didates have all been informed that they are nominated expressly to
oppose any alteration in the mode of distributing the school fund in
the city of New York. Now, then, as to the candidates for the
Senate, the Peotestants of the City of Brooklyn, and, indeed of the
district, demand that the candidates for the Senate be selected on
the same principle, and unless they are so selected with the distinct
understanding, that they will sustain our present incomparable sys-
tem AS IT IS, they will not he sustained by the people."
Here was another appeal to the religious prejudices of the com-
munity, and to the honor of that community be it said, it was treated
as it deserved. In a few days afterwards, Col. Stone was charged
by one of his colleagues of the press in the following words : " The
gross and uncalled for attacks of the Commercial Advertiser upon the
Catholic religion lost us the city."
These, sir, are facts from your own pen, and, so far as the only
controversy which I desire to have with you, namely — that which
appertains to my own character and conduct in ^he natural right of
vindicating both from the foul and false charges which you and Mr.
Bennett have been the foremost to promulgate — these facts will be
quite sufficient for my purpose. But I have a great many more
when you will be able to Tiear them. The files of your paper teem
with them. All the other portions of yoUr letter, though they might
be very well in their place, yet, so far as regards the only question
between us, are mere " words, words, words." For instance, you
maintain " the existence and necessity of a national predominant
RELIGION which is neither established nor unestablished." You
maintain the necessity of a scheme of public education, to which
" discontented fragments must conform, and towards which they
can exercise no veto poioer P' This, sir, is strong language to use to-
ward a people who suppose themselves free. I am at a loss to know
by what authority you ordain what the law does not, that they " must
, conform." You maintain that King James' Bible is the best ver-
sion of the sacred scripture in our language. I am of a different
opinion. Now, sir, I ask you whether as a " discontented frag-
ment " I have a right to any opinion on the subject ; or whether I
" 7nvst conform ?" You say, " the great battle of the Reformation is to
be fought over again." But, let me ask you whether there be not
some more Christian mode oi illuminating the minds of the" Papists "
than that of burning their churches ? All the Reformations, so called,
that have taken place, would have succeeded much better if their
advocates had exercised a little more charity and tolerance towards
each other. But I shall not pursue the subject now. I have written
but for one lingle object, npmely, to vindicate myself; and 1 have no
doubt but that all men of candid minds will agree that that object
has been thoroughly accomplished.
500 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
I commenced this letter with a very just quotation from a " Native
American " paper. Allow me to close it by another from an English
Protestant clergyman. But before doing so, let me call to your re-'
collection an honorable passage of your own, when you were nobly
engaged in scattering the conspiracy of Maria Monk, and her associ-
ates to the wind. " In so doing," you remark, " I have believed
myself to be likewise performing a duty to Protestant Christianity
in the light of teuth ; since I believe, the most sovereign antidote
to the march of Popery will ever be found in that divine attribute
(truth); and if the Papal power can be overthrown only by fraud,
fahehood, and imposture, I say for one let it stand." Pity, sir, that
ever this noble sentiment should have passed from the memory of
its author. The quotation from the Rev. author of the portraiture
of Methodism, Mr. Nightingale, ie as follows. I give it for what it
is worth, leaving you to judge whether it has any application to your
recent letters or not.
" When the early Reformers had, with a pertinacity unbecoming
their extraordinary pretensions to purity of doctrine and spirituality
of character, succeeded in affixing on their old friends the nickname
of Papists, and on the faith they deserted from, that of Popery, the
prejudice these terms were intended to inspire, found its way from
the pen of the zealot and the lips of the declaimer, to the solemn acts
of nations, and the edicts of the reformed princes. The liberal and
enlightened spirit of modern times has dictated a wiser course, and
the term Roman Catholic is that by which those formerly called
Papists, are now designated in all the great statutes of this country
(England).
* * * "The reproachful epithets of 'Papist,' 'Romanist,'
' Popish,' ' Romish,' &c., are no longer applied to them by any
gentleman or scholar."
I hav») the honor to be, Sir, your obedient Servant,
>3E< John Hughes, Bishop of New York.
ALLEiSKD BUEITING OF BIBLES. 501
ALLEGED BURNING OF BIBLES.
Editor of the Evening Post :— Sir,— I send you, herewith, the
report of the proceedings of a meeting " convened in the Methodist
Episcopal Church at Beekmanstown," on Wednesday, the 30th of
November, in relation to the alleged burning of a quantity of " Bi-
bles, by Roman Catholic priests, in the town of Champlain, Clinton
county, New- York.", I request that you will have the goodness to
publish the said proceedings in connection with this communication.
I found them in the Albany Evening Journal, which has reached Tme
by the post of this day; and I lose not a moment to express through
the medium of the public press, the indignation with which I con-
demn the proceedings there reported, so far as they may turn out
to be true. I have had no opportunity of judging of the facts in
this case, except through the medium of the public press ; and so
far as that medium has reflected truth, I protest against the alleged
burning of Bibles, in my own name, and in the name of the Catholic
Clergy and Catholic laity of the diocese of New-York. I protest
against it, as an act unworthy of citizens of this republic; and I pro-
test against it, in order that, if it did occur, the parties immediately
concerned in it shall alone be held responsible.
Claiming to enjoy the privileges of the Constitution, granted to
all citizens without distinct-ion of creed, I hold it unworthy their
position to do an act calculated to injure the rights or wound the
feelings of any other denomination ; and with these feelings, which, I
trust, are the universal feelings of Catholicism in the United States,
I cannot find language strong enough to express ray reprobation of
the outrage committed on the feelings of my Protestant fellow-citi-
zens, by an act so shocking to their prejudices, as would be the
burning, in an ostentatious manner, of that form of translation of
the Bible, to which they are so generally attached.
In these remarks, I have supposed for the moment, that the state-
ment assumed by the " meeting convened in the Methodist Episcopal
Church in the town of Champlain, Clinton county. New- York," is a
true statement ; I do not, however, admit the truth of it ; but merely
assume it for the purpose of expressing the feelings which, if it were
true, it should excite in my breast, and in the breast of every Amer-
ican Catholic. From the form of the proceedings, however, I take
it for granted that#here must be some truth in it ; and, so far, I unite
with them in the unqualified condemnation of the act.
As I understand the duty of American citizens, I conceive that
every man, so long as he governs himself by the laws Of his country,
and fulfills the duties of his social position, is accountable to God
alone for the convictions of his conscience ; and, therefore, it is, that
I condemn, with the same emphasis, the burning of Protestant Bi-
bles, as I would the burning of a Catholic convent ; and, as I hold
that it would be unjust to condemn the Protestant ministers, and
the Protestant people of the United States, for the burning of a con-
vent at Boston, so I maiuiain it would be equally unjust to hold
505 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
the Catholic people, or the Catholic priesthood, aocoixntable for the
burning of a Protestant translation of the Scriptures, in the town
of Champlain, Clinton county, New- York.
Catholics have but little respect for King James' translation of
the Bible ; but they should have respect for the different convictions
of their Protestant fellow-citizens on that subject. There are zeal-
ots among the Protestants who think they do Goda service, when,
by unworthy artifices, they can succeed in thrusting their tracts,
and their version of the Scriptures, into Catholic families. They are
not satisfied to allow the Catholic to follow the dictates of his own
conscience, but they must confer upon him benefits, as they suppose,
which his conscience obliges him to refuse. Catholics have the
Scriptures, approved by their own Church, published in every form,
to suit their circumstances ; they should therefore refuse politely,
but with firmness and independence, the offer of every version which
■ they regard as spurious ; and if, after such refusal, those obtrusive
Bible distributors should force into their dwellings such copies, I
would regard them as justified in hurling the copy out of doors
after him who had left it. Thus, as the laws of the country now
stand, if Congress should pass an act declaring the version of King
James to be the true translation of the Holy Scriptures, then indeed
the Bible distributors may claim the authority of the state for pro-
ceedings which, as things now are, cannot but be regarded as ex-
tremely impertinent on their part, in reference to their Catholic
fellow-citizens.
Catholics, therefore, cannot in conscience receive ttis spurious
text, but they can never correct the error of having received it by
burning it afterwards. And Protestants, if they wish to see the
rights secured by the constitution fairly carried out, will distribute
their Bibles among their own people, instead of attempting to smug-
gle them into Catholic families who do not wish to receive them.
Wo never force our Tracts, or our peculiar doctrines, on any denom-
ination differing from us in religious belief; and we claim the reci-
procity of courtesy from other denominations.
I regret, sir, to perceive in the proceedings of the meeting evi-
dence going far to prove that the reverend gentlemen who took part
in it were actuated more by ill-will towards their Catholic fellow-
citizens, than by sincere Christian respect for the Holy Scriptures.
They speak of the real or supposed burning of the Bibles, as having
been done by " the Roman Catholic priests." ♦Why did they not
mention the names of these priests ? Why did they not men-
tion the lime when the thing occurred — the place, the circum-
stances ? So as the public might distinguish between the " ike
priests" who were guilty of this offence, and the others who had
nothing to do with it ? Why, if they are honest men, did they not
give names and dates and particulars, by which the party guilty of
the offence could be distinguished from the mass of Catholic priests
and Catholic people of the United States ? I ask very naturally
this question, why was it so ? and I find no answer except in tho
supposition that they wished to impose on the honest feelings of their
ALLEGED BUBNING OF BIBLES. 503
aouutrymen, and excite a general persecution against all who are
" priests," or all who are " Catholics."
It was once my duty in Philadelphia to attend a member of my
communion in the last stage of consumption. Poverty and disease
hadj,eft her for a long time dependent on the be'nevolence of a few
charitable persons who were acquainted with her situation. Among
these was a committee of ladies from a Protestant Benevolent So-
ciety—persons naturally of most tender and humane feelings. They
had been exceedingly kind to her, mingling their ministrations of
comfort with the most pious exhortations ; but for several weeks
immediately previous to my visit, they had made it a point to supply
the suffering victim with a bowl of meat soup on each successive
Friday. She might have been hungry ; but on seeing the choice
which they had made, and the time which they had selected for
making it, " she had no appetite," she said ; not wis-hing to offend
them by a more direct refusal ! for she had received many benefits
from them for which she was grateful. In- her situation it would
have been no violation of her Catholic duties to have taken soup or
meat on any day ; and yet I could not but admire and reverence
the independence of conscience manifested by the dying sufferer, when
the assault was made upon it through her poverty and destitution.
Those good ladies were at length determined not to be disappointed
in their benevolence, and insisted on waiting till she had taken the
soup in their presence. She then told them that she was a Catholic,
and it was Friday ; and after ejaculating a few expressions of pious
horror at the blindness of her heart, left her and returned no more.
Alas ! thought I, if this be Protestantism, it has not the spirit of
the good Samaritan, and I am not surprised that it makes so little
impression ; and yet the ladies to whom I have referred were among
the most respectable, kind and benevolent of that philanthropic city.
Now, sir, it is to be feared that the benevolence and philanthropy
of Protestants are too often under the guidance of a similar spirit ;
it is to be feared that this spirit has presided too much at the meet-
ing to which we have referred. I blame the Catholics for their con-
temptible pusillanimity and want of principle, in admitting into their
possession copies 'of the Scriptures which they hold to be spurious ;
I blame them equally for their indecent disregard of what is due to
the religious feelings of their fellow-citizens, in taking those Bibles
and publicly burning them afterwards. I condemn and disavow this
act in the name of the Catholic clergy and laity of the diocese of
New York. And if it was done, let the individuals concerned in it,
whether priests or laymen, be held answerable for their unbecoming-
proceedings. .
In the meantime, however, not having any knowledge of the trans-
action, except what is contained in the bad spirit of the proceedings
of the meeting held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, I am unpre-
pared to believe that report until it be attested by more minute and
circumstantial evidence ; and in order to satisfy the public mind,
and to test the accuracy of those proceedings, I woul^ request that
504 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
any two Protestant gentlemen of good, liberal feelings, would join
two Catholic laymen and proceed to the place for the purpose of
preparing a report which shall contain the fact, if the fact has occur-
red, the names of the parties, the time, place and circumstances of
this extravagant proceeding. I will be willing myself to pay the
expenses of the Catholic gentlemen, or, if necessary, of them all.
In this way an odium, which would be as unjust as it is unmerited
by the Catholic body of the United States, will be repelled ; and the
individuals who are culpable of the alleged outrage will be held up
in their proper names to the reprehension which, if the report of the
meeting alluded to be correct, they so unqualifiedly deserve.
>i< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York.
New York, January 1, 1843.
" The Rev. J. Rooney, at the instance of Bishop Hughes, caused
the gentlemen whose names are appended to the following report to
visit Corbu and institute a rigid inquiry into the facts connected
with the burning of the Bibles at that place.
Report.
The undersigned, in compliance with a request of the Rev. J.
Rooney, of Plattsburgh, and in conformity with the wishes of
Bishop Hughes of New York, as published in the papers, met at
Corbu, in the town of Champlain, for the purpose of ascertaining
the facts in relation to the burning of Bibles at that place in No-
vember last.
After having examined a number of witnesses, we have to report,
that Bibles were burnt, and that the number will not vary, much
from forty-two — we think that to be the precise number. They
were burnt by Mr. Telman, a Missionary from Canada, and recently
from France, a Friar oblat — that Mr. Telman was the sole insti-
gator and mover in the business of burning Bibles, and in opposition
to the wishes and feelings of Mr. Durgas, the resident Clergyman
at Corbu. It appears that the number burnt was but a small pro-
portion of the whole number distributed among the people. These
Bibles were given to the Catholics by Protestant agents of the Bi-
ble Society, and in some cases were left with individuals after an
expression of repugnance to receive them, and but a small number
of those who gave up their Bibles to be burned could read at all.
It appeared in testimony that the Bishop of Montreal was at
Corbu five daj'-s after the above transaction, and expressed in strong
language his disapprobation of the whole affair.
Therefore, in view of the above facts and circumstances, we have
arrived at the conclusion that whatever odium or blame there is in
this transaction, it belongs to Mr. Telman ; and that it would be
uncharitable and unjust to throw it upon the whole denomination.
Ebeist'e a. Scott, Hikam Ladd, David Parsons, Protestants,
Micii'l Haggerty, John Riley, Patrick Moffitt, Catholics.
THE JUBILEE. 605
THE JUBILEE OF 1842.
JOHN, by the Grace of God, and the appointment of the Holy See Bishop of Basile-
opolis. Coadjutor to tbe Bishop and Administrator of the Diocese of New Yorjt, to the
Clergy and Faithful of said diocese, Peace and Benediction.
Venerable Brethren of the Clergy, and heloved Children of the Laity.
The evils which have afflicted the Church of Spain, have caused
our Holy Father Geegoey XVI, the Supreme Visible Pastor of the
Church on Earth, to address an Encyclical Letter to the Bishops and
faithful of the universal flock committed to his care, inviting and
urging them to offer up their united supplications and prayers to
God, to obtain the abbreviation of the days of trial, which now
press on the faithful in the Spanish dominions.
In the Church of God there is a communion of joys and sorrows,
as well as of faith. If one member suffer, all the members suffer
with it ; and if one member rejoices, all the members rejoice. It is
a melancholy spectacle to behold the children of Spain, so constant
.and so ardent in their immemorial attachment to the Holy See,
exposed by the oppressive conduct of temporal rulers, to be severed
from the everlasting centre of Catholic Unity. In that country.
Princes have met together against the Lord and against his Christ ;
the ancient laws of the Church are violated by secular enactments,
and the violation forced on the Clergy and faithful, contrary to their
will. Bishops driven into exile for no crime but fidelity to their
God ; Priests consigned to prison for refusing to recognize sacrilege
and the spoliation of the House of God, by the usurpations of
arbitrary, temporal power ; Altars left without the Minister to offer
sacrifice on them, and Temples robbed of all that made them august
and venerable in the estimation of the people ; the people themselves
deprived of the ministry of faithful and lawful Pastors ; mark the
progress of the powers of darkness, in their efforts to destroy that
religion, which at all times constituted the first glory of Spain.
The Sovereign Pontiff, on whom devolves the solicitude of all the
churches, obliged by the duties of hiS exalted station to witness
these ravages in the Lord's vineyard, in the afiliction of his paternal
heart, calls upon all the faithful, as in the days when their prayers
obtained the release of Peter from prison, again to supplicate the
Father of Mercies on behalf of the persecuted faithful of Spain.
We cannot co-operate effectually in the intention thus set forth,
unless we ourselves be reconciled to God by repentance and compunc-
tion of heart. With the view to obtain these necessary dispositions,
and that our prayers may be acceptable to Heaven, the Holy Father
has granted to all the faithful, who shall have returned to God, by a
sincere confession, the reception of the sacraments of Penance and
of the Holy Eucharist, a Plenary Indulgence in the form of a Jubilee.
The conditions required for obtaining the indulgence are, that the
faithful having received the above sacraments with worthy
dispositions, shall assist at the public prayers of the church, three
506 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
times within fifteen consecutive days, and shall have prayed fervently
with the above intention. The prayers to be publicly read after
Mass in each Church, during fifteen days, are Litanies of the Saints
with the Orations attached to them, and the private prayers to be
said by each individual, are the Lord's Prayer, and Hail Mary each
three times. •
The period for complying with these conditions, and gaining the
Indulgences attached thereto, has been graciously extended to a
period of six months from the date of the reception of the Apostolic
letters in this country. These letters were received about the
middle of May, and there remain of the term unexpired little more
than ten weeks.
The Pastors, therefore, of the different congregations will lose no
time in giving to their 'flocks the opportunity of profiting by this
season of grace and of mercy. Their own powers, in the tribunal
of penance, are extended even to cases which, in the ordinary
circumstances of their ministry, would not come within their
exercise.
"Wherever it can be done, it should be desii'able that there should
be public . exercise in the Church in the form of a spiritual retreat.
This would give them the opportunity of instructing and exhort-
ing their people ; of calling on those who have, perhaps, long
neglected the sacraments of the Church, to profit by this happy
occasion, and to be reconciled with their God. It would be
well also, if Clergymen living contiguous, or in the same neighbour-
hood, should so arrange it that they might be able to assist each
other.
The Reverend Clergy will understand that in case of sickness,
distance from the Church, or any other causes, which they may
deem sufficient, they are authorised to dispense with the visits to the
Church prescribed by the Brief, and even to substitute other
prayers, instead of those mentioned, according to their charity and
prudence. But, in order to gain ■ the Plenary Indulgence, it is
essential that the faithful shall have approached the Sacraments of
Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and that they shall offer their
prayers in 'the intention of our Holy Father the Pope, as above.
Given at New York, this 5th day of September, 1842.
WILLIAM STARRS, Sec'y.
SERMON ON THE JUBILEE.
The Truth Teller of September 1 Vth, 1842, contained the following
synopsis of a sermon preached by the Right Reverend Bishop
Hughes on the Sunday previous in the Cathedral — the subject was
The Jubilee— his text from the first of Isaiah—" Go feed the poor
and clothe the naked, and then come and accuse me," &c.
SEEMON ON JUBILEE. 507
The roligious duties imposed on us at thifS peculiar time were of
a two-fold character ; in the first place to purify ourselves from sin
by the special use and application of the indulgences granted by
Almighty God through his church to the faitJbful. And in the
second place, to lift our purified hearts and voices to the throne
of heaven in behalf of the faithful but persecuted Catholics who
inhabit the Spanish dominions. The free exercise of the Catholic
worship and discipline had been interfered with by temporal power
in that Country. The bishops and pastors and teachers of our
cteed in that unhappy land had been driven into exile for no other
crime than fidelity to the sacred orders of their God — altars are
deprived of a ministering priesthood — temples are robbed of much
that made them venerable in the eyes of the followers of Christ, the
people are deprived of the instruction and consolations of religion ;
and the powers of darkness threaten for a time to prevail over a
race who have made themselves glorious amongst the nations by
their steady and consistent adherence to the Catholic faith. Our
Sovereign PontiflT, feeling for the miseries and sufferings of the faith-
ful in that section of the fold of Christ, has signified to us his earnest
desires and commands, to beseech and supplicate the Father of
mercies in their behalf. And we are further required to take
advantage of the coming of the Jubilee, not only to purify and exalt
our own hearts, but to offer the incense of regenerated souls to the
almighty Creator of all, with the hope that the sufferings of his
faithful Spanish people may cease, or be limited to a short duration,
and that they may abtain grace to persevere in their resolutions to
adhere to the discipline of, and communion with God's church on
earth, against which we are assured by the promises of God himself
the wicked shall never prevail.
The Jubilee is an ancient Jewish institution. With them it was
established, as a civil or social law. With us it is an ecclesiastical
and religious ordinance. The Jews observed the return of every
fiftieth year as the signal for dissolving all civil contracts. At the
end of seven times seven years, all prisoners in captivity were set
free. All slaves were released from their masters. All property
reverted and was restored to its original owners. Jubilee is a
Hebrew word, which signifies to return. The sale of property could
never extend beyond the term of the Jubilee, and must be
returned to the primitive owners or their descendants and next of
kin.
This law continued amongst the Jewish people down to their
captivity. The early fathers of the Catholic church adopted this
law in a religious sense, and it has continued as a religious ordinance
in our church from generation to generation to the present time. It
is now adopted by the head of the church, and is woven into our
religious system. At first it was fixed by the church to take place
at the end of every hundred years. Subsequently it was established
by an ordinance of the Sacred Tribunal to take place every fiftieth
year, and now, in order that the faithful may have more frequent
508 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
opportunities to embrace ttie advantages which it offers, it is held
every twenty-fifth year.
In every age the head of the church has circumscribed the powers
of all orders of the clergy within certain limits. And in every
country these regulations and limitations have been scrupulously
observed. Priests have certain powers confided to them. Bishops
are granted certain powers larger than the priest. Cardinals have
still larger powers than either. There are some cases where penitents
cannot be absolved by the ordinary priest, and some who cannot be
absolved by the bishop, but whose case must go before the cardinals
or the Holy Father. But in the year of Jubilee, larger powers are
given to the priesthood, and all of daring them that sacred time have
full liberty to deal with the most important cases. In the year of the
Jubilee, the powers belonging to the Bishop or the Pope are confided
to the clergy, and all persons have thus afforded them an easy
opportunity of becoming reconciled to their God.
In the year of Jubilee, the largest, most plenary, and most
comprehensive indulgences are granted to the truly penitent sinner.
Though we are familiar with the term indulgence, and though we
have an idea of its import, it is to be apprehended that all do not
fully comprehend the true nature of the principle enwrapped in the
word. What is an indulgence? It is the remission of an extra, an
ultimate penalty, due by the sinner to his Maker for the disobedience
of his divine commands. The atonement of Jesus Christ pro\ides
for the remission of original sin — but even then there is another
kind of punishment due to sin, even after the atonement; and it is-
to that other penalty that indulgence refers — for' though you may
have cleansed yourselves by repentance, thei-e is still a penalty
incurred by sin which the church under the divine commands and
promise of ouf Lord himself, has the power to absolve and remit,
and that power is granted extensively and fully to the whole priest-
hood during the holy season of the Jubilee.
Though the promise of a Redeemer was imparted by God to
Adam, yet he did not tell him that he was to be freed without an
effort of his own. No ! Even the infant that has just seen the light
and expired — the infant whose guilt can hardly be palpable or
perceptible, yet that infant is bound to pay the penalty of sickness,
death, and after suffering for sin. When I)a\id sinned, the prophet
declared that his child should be sick and suffer death as a punish-
ment. In the journey of the children of Israel to the promised land,
many were condemned, whose bones were laid in the desert.
Now, that temporal punishment is such, that we cannot conjecture
its nature. We have the doctrine of penance, by which we become
reconciled to God after we have offended his justice. St. Paul says
he chastised his body to make up what was wanted in the discipline
imposed ^n him hy his di\ine master. We see the natui-e of this
punishment in the sufferings of the church, and in the daily trouble
and vexations to which all Christians are subject, and we believe it
to be an ordeai through which the faithful Christian has to pass to
the presence of his God.
SEEMON ON JUBILEE. 509
The doctrine of original guilt — the doctrine of the atonement—
the doctrine of purgatory — the doctrine of penance — temporal
punishment and suffering, and the application of those doctrines to
the sinning soul, are all links in the great chain, and are to be taken
together as a system of repentance and reconciliation to God. Unless
we are reconciled to God by penance, and have recoarse to the
sacraments by which sin is forgiven, Ave cannot obtain this indulgence.
If any one supposes he can obtain the benefit of an indulgence,
while he harbors any favorite sinful passion of the soul — any
revengeful desire of the heart, any grovelling anxieties of avarice,
any swelling emotions of pride, he is much and egregiously
mistaken. He cannot hope for the attainment of so great a blessing
while his mind is unsubdued, and is under the influence of those
repulsive and degrading 'passions.
An indulgence is not a license to commit sin, as some have said ;
on the contrary, unerring synaptoms of sincere repentance must be
manifested by the candidate for this heavenly dispensation. St. Paul
granted an indulgence to the incestuous Corinthian : he had been
convicted of a heinous crime — he had been cut off from the
community of his fellow citizens — but as he showed evident marks
of contrition, St. Paul fearing that he might fall into despair and
despondency, granted him the indulgence of again mixing and
communicating with the faithful. And in the early history of the
church, there are numberless instances of the fallen sinners approach-
ing the house of God — standing at the portals, but not daring to
enter ; but on manifesting sincere sorrow for their guilt, they were
at last indulged and suffered to come in. ;»
When the blessed martyrs to Christianity were going to the rack
that was to tear them limb from limb, and to the fire that was
to consume them, they prayed for indulgences, and their peculiar
sufferings guaranteed them. But so far from being favorable to
the commission of sin, the indulgence presupposes that sin has
ceased.
And now, how we ought to prepare to meet this great duty— we
may never have such an opportunity again, dilring our natural lives,
and how eagerly ought we to avail ourselves of this favorable time
to remove the just opposition which our sins created, and thus pass
more directly to the pf'esence of our Maker, and how easy are the
conditions ! They are simply a true contrition of soul — the recep-
tion "of the holy Sacraments and the attendance three tiines, for
about an hour each time, at the religious ceremonies appointed to
take place in the church. So easy is it to be reconciled to God !
And when we reflect on the goodness of God to us, and that he has
opened to us a mode of attaining Heaven and that soul which Christ
saved by the shedding of his blood, may, by the dispensation of
Christ's church, pass purified into his presence ; we become astounded
at the extent of his goodness, and we become ashamed to continue
in sin. Let us, then, raise our hearts towards the eternal throne of
the Most High. Let us implore the Grace of Repentance and
510 AKCUBISHOP HUGHiS.
Puriiicatlon. Let us co-operate in prayer in one holy comm.inity
throughout the earth, from the rising to the setting of the sun, for
thu relief of the faithful in the Lord who inhabit the Spanish
dominions. And who knows but that amongst the millions who
appeal to the throne of Heaven, some pure heart, some exalted soul,
may waft; its aspirations more fervently than the others ; and that its
pious articulations may be heard by the God of all.
I
THE LATEST INVENTION.
From the Commercial Advertiser.
Messks. Editors, — In your Commercial of Monday, you pub-
lished from the Buffalo Oasetie, an article purporting to be a state-
ment of the differences between the congregation of St. Louis
Church in that city and myself. It stated that I claimed to have
" the property of the church vested in my hands, and that the claim
was resisted by the congregation." This is entirely untrue. I
never advanced such a claim, and of course, it could not be refused.
It is stated that in consequence of this refusal I " called away the
Rev. Alexander Pax, and left the congregation destitute." This is
equally untrue. On the contrary, nothing but my persuasion was
able to prevail on him to stay for the last eighteen months or two
years, under the ill-treatment of a few worthless men who call them-
selves the congregation. It is stated that the congregation of St.
Patrick's, in Buffalo, have " complied with my requisition." This,
again, is untrue. The trustees and congregation of St. Patrick's
will bear me witness that I never made any such requisition. I
advised them, as a means of putting an end to quarrels among them-
selves, to dispense with trustees, and to avoid the rock on which the
church of St. Louis is now splitting. These are the principal state-
ments ; and the honorable confidence of the editor of the Bvffalo
Gazette has been sadly abused by those who have employed his au-
thority for statements 'which they knew to be unfounded in truth.
He should demand proof of them, and if they cannot furnish it, to
which I challenge them, he should publish their names, and vindicate
his own. He has been deceived. I attach no blame to him. ,If his
deceivers can furnish no proof that I ever made such a demand, I
can furnish proof, in their own writing, that I ne\er did.
" It is surmised," says the statement, " that the Bishop has gone so
far as to forbid any priest in the neighboring parishes from perform-
ing divine service in St. Louis Church until the congregation shall
fully comply with his demands." N"either member of this " surmise"
is true. I forbade only one clergyman, whose inexperience might
have been taken advantage of by the same artifice which trifled so
foully with the good faith of the editor of the Gazette. And secondly,
what are called my " demands," in the statement, never had any
existence in reality.
niE LATEST INVEN^TION. 611
Surely the editor of the Buffalo Oazeite will feel a glo^y of virtnous
indignation, when he discovers how much he has been imposed on.
The only difference between the congregation of St. Louis and
myself is, that its trustees have thought proper not to be governed
by the ecclesiastical discipline of the diocese, and expect me to sup-
ply them with priests who shall be governed by a different discipline,
of which they shall be the authors.
The congregation of that church are pious and exemplary Catho-
lics, to whom their holy faith is dearer than life. But it sometimes
happens that our trustees may be honest and upright in their inten-
tions, and yet men of simple understanding, and without education.
In such cases only let an enlightened, talented, intriguing and irre-
ligious mind get among them, and then, whatever he concocts in his
infidel mind, he induces them, under specious pretences, to adopt ;
and then he gives out the depraved purposes of his own heart as the
act of the Board, and this again as the act of the congregation !
From the moment this arrives, woe to the flock, and woe to the pas-
tor, who are at once divided from each other, and yet kept together
by such a link of iniquity.
The pious and amiable Dr. Pax was not called away by me ; but
I left him at liberty to leave whenever he felt that he could stand it
no^longer. It appears that the time has arrived. I have no German
pastor to send in his place. But if I had, it would be with instruc-
tions to rent a barn, fit up an altar in it, and administer the sacra-
ments of religion with that freedom from the restraints and guidances
of unauthorized laymen, with which God made the ministers of his
churtjh free — but which is not enjoyed, it appears, in the church of
St. Louis.
The neighboring clergymen could not officiate in it without
neglecting their own congregations, which have the first claim on
their ministry. Besides, I deem it my duty now to forbid all cler-
gymen of this diocese to officiate in that church, until it shall be de-
termined whether it is to be governed by the ecclesiastical regula-
tions of the diocese, or by the " resolves " of its trustees.
I trust, Messrs. Editors, that you will publish the above in your
paper, as an act of reparation which I may claim on the score of
justice. I ask an insertion of it also in the Buffalo Gazette, which I
am sure . the editor will not refuse. I appeal to the honor of such
other editors as may have copied the false and injurious statement
first published in the Buffalo Gazette, for a similar favor.
^ JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York.
New York, April 4, 1843.
In explanation of the above letter of the Bishop, we add the para-
graph from the Buffalo Gazette containing the falsified statement.
"Bishop Hughes and the Roman Cathoiio Congeegation of
BrrpPALO. — We regret to learn that a serious difference exists be-
tween the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes and the French and German
512 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
congregation of St. Louis' Church in this city. It appears that the
cause of the controversy is a late requirement of the IJishop that the
property of the church be vested in his hands ; to which the congre-
gation are not -willing to submit. The congregation of St. Louis'
Church, by industry and frugality, and by large donations from our
respected fellow-citizen, the late Louis le Couteulx, Esq., has founded
a claim to the administration of their own property, which they do
not feel disposed to surrender. In consequence of this non-compli-
ance, Bishop Hughes has thought proper to withdraw from them
their pastor, th^ 'Rev. Alexander Pax, and left them entirely destitute
of any clerical assistance. It is even surmised' that the Bishop has
gone so far as to forbid any priest from the neighboring parishes to
perform divine service in St. Louis' Chui'ch, until its congregation
shall fully comply with his demands. That congregation, it appears,
cannot seek redress, except through the Pope, as by the canon law
no one but the Bishop has the power to appoint j^riests to the
churches in his diocese, and his authority is necessary for a priest to
perform divine service in any of the Catholic churches of his diocese.
"Yesterday, being Sunday, the trustees openedthe doors of their
church, and many of the members of its immense congregation
attended prayers, read by the Catholic school teacher. It is to be
hoped that this state of things will not long continue ; that Bishop
Hughes will reflect upon the consequences which must ensue from
his determination to enforce this novel claim, and that he will aban-
don his pretensions to the temporal, and content himself with the
spiritual administration of the Church.
" We understand that the congregation of St. Patrick's Church,
under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Whelan, has thought
proper to comply with the requisition of the Bishop."
SCIENCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMT. 613
A LECTURE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A CHRIS-
TIAN BASIS FOR THE SCIENCE OF POLITIC Al
ECONOMY, And ITS APPLICATION TO THE
AFFAIRS OF LIFE.
DELIVERED BEFORE THE CALVERT INSTITUTE, BALTIMORE, AND
THE CARROLL INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, ON THE 17th AND 18th
JANUARY, 1844, BY RT. REV. DR. HUGHES, BISHOP OF NEW YORK.
PoLiTipAL EcONOMT professes to treat of the material wealth of
nations, and to trace out the laws which govern and regulate its
tendencies to increase or diminution. By material wealth, it would
have us to understand not only the precious metals, as gold and
silver, but all descriptions of ' property, having an exchangeable
value. Whatever substance, whether in the heavens above, or in
the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, is consecrated
to the use of mankind, by the expenditure of human capital, or
human labor, passes, ipso facto, under the scientific dominion of
Political Economy.
From this view it would seem, at first, impossible to take any
adequate cognizance of a subject so vast, so complex, and so essen-
tially variable. This is, indeed, to a great extent correct ; and the
science finds itself so often at fault, even on matters which it ought,
by this time, to understand thoroughly, that he must be a credulous
man, who places implicit confidence in even its most elaborate con-
clusions. Yet. on the other hand, it is the special, province of all
science to take up, and arrange, and analyze, distribute and classify,
under general heads, the various subjects which it investigates ; and
CO matter how complicated may seem to be the material afl:'airs of
wealth and industry, in the social relations of individuals, or in the
great ' commercial business of nations, the science of Political
Economy has reduced, from the patient study of details, certain
leading principles, according to which it has distributed the whole
subject into special departments, which simplify questions in a man-
33
514 AECHBISnOP HUGHES.
ner almost inconceivable. True it is, that the professors of the
science are not always agreed, as to the accuracy of its classifications
or the soundness of its principles. True it is, that its votaries have
yet to travel an immense distance, before they shall have reached
anything like infallibility. Nevertheless, it has already furnished
most important results. The observations and statistics, which it
has collected and arranged, are invaluable ; not only on account of
the points which they have elucidated, but also, and more, on account
of the anomalies in social, as well as political philosophy, which it
has utterly failed to explain.
Of its two great primary departments, the one comprises the
inhabitants of the earth ; the other embraces the material things
which are required, and can be supplied, for the physical sustenance
or enjoyment of these inhabitants. Now, it is found that these
material things, before they can be fully prepared for the purposes
of sustenance and pleasure, require the expenditure of capital, either
in money, or labor, or both. Such things are divided into two
stages of time ; the one commencing with the first expenditure of
capital on the raw material, and ending at the term of expenditure,
when the thing is entirely prepared, and passes over to its use. This
comprehends all the industrial pursuits and occupations of mankind ;
and the whole is designated by the term production. The other stage
begins when the object is applied to its use ; and this stage is called
by the general term consumption. The latter of these terms repre-
sents the wants, whether real or artificial, of society ; the former
designates the supply of these wants. Population is also classed
under two corresponding divisions ; na,me]y,prodiiierg and consumers.
But in general, the science has, so far been conducted rather in
conformity to the special interests of particular nations, than accord-
ing to any principles of universal origin or application. The coun-
tries which have paid most attention to this subject, in a scientific
Y>omt of view, are France and England ; and the works emanating
from these countries, represent very distinctly, the national type,
according to which the study has been prosecuted. Hence, although
there are found in their treatises, principles supposed to be of
universal application, still the acttial condition of society, the nature
of industrial pursuits, the bearing of commercial laws, peculiar to
those countries, have come in so powerfully in modifying the views
of their political economists, that their best principles cannot be
appreciated, except by a just discrimination of all the circumstances,
in which one nation differs from another.
Thus, for instance, confining our remarks to England, with which
we are better acquainted, we are met with a distribution of the
population into classes, which are not formed in our own country.
These are, landlords, capitalists, and laborers. Generally in this
country, the same individual represents all three. He is the owner
of the soil, which he cultivates ; and his means of carrying on
agriculture, constitutes his capital. The three classes are indeed,
found ; but that which constitutes the rule in England, is only the
SCIENCE OF rOLITlCAl ECOUOMT. 515
exception here. It is not, perhaps, the fault of Political Economy,
as a science, that it seems to regard wealth as the end, and human
beiags as only the means, in order for its attainment. We would not
venture to make this a reproach ; and yet we cannot help making i^
a subject of regret. Its writers did not create the science ; they
only embodied a copy of its workings in practical life, as they found
it in the relations of men. The prominence which is given to
wealth, in tracing out the most certain rules for the acquisition of it,
cannot but have had an injurious moral effect, in so far as it enhanced
the ideal value of riches in the estimation of the human mind.
There perhaps never was a period, when men entered on the pursuit
of wealth, with so much of what might be called almost desperate
determination to succeed, as the period in which we live. And we
may entertain a reasonable doubt, whether it be not owing to this,
that individuals in high and honorable stations, have so frequently
(and of late as never before,) jeoparded and sacrificed an unblemished
character, rather than miss the opportunity of rapidly acquiring
wealth ; the means of which, circumstances and confidence had
placed within their reach. Cupidity is a natural propensity of man ;
and it is to be feared that the theoretic, and practical, political
economy of our age, has encouraged and whetted the passion in-
stead of moderating and regulating its violence. It is certain, that
self-interest is the great motive principle of human exertion ; but it
is equally certain, that Political Economy, as a science, omits what
would be essential in a true definition of a man's interest. Of this
we shall be convinced, if we examine the moral principle on which,
whether in the practice of modern nations, or in the theory of
writers, Pohtical Economy is founded. If we follow it up to the
mysterious link which connects it with the spiritual or moral world,
in the breast of man, we shall find that it acts exclusively on that of
personal interest. So much so indeed, that if England and France,
and the nations of modern times, in general instead of being Chris-
tians, or at least professing Christianity, were Heathens, it would
still be almost unnecessary to change a single word in the actual
Philosophy or ethics of Political Economy. Here then, it is, that
the importance of a Christian basis demands our attention. The
ad\-antages and disadvantage of position between Landlord and
Tenant — between the Capitalist and the Laborer, are such, that if
mere material self-interest alone be left to regulate their relations, it
is easy to foresee that the weaker are liable to fall victims to the
interests and power of the stronger. The truth of this proposition
is manifest now, in the condition of England, where these relations
are, and have been in existence for a long time. N"ow, if Christianity
were admitted as an element in Political Economy, man — human
nature — in consideration of the value which it has acquired by the
Redemption, would be the first and principal object of solicitude,
and all things else would be estimated by reference to this. Man's
interest would be graduated on a scale proportioned to the whole
of his nature, combining the spiritual with the corporeal ; and the
516 ' ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
■whole of his destiny, extending to eternity, as well as time. Then,
indeed, self-interest thlis understood, would constitute a principle
sufficiently high and sufficiently ample to combine the acquisition of
V'oalth, with sacred regard for the rights and privileges of human
beings. But this is not the case. The landlords, capitalists, and
laborers of England, are supposed to represent three great depart-
ments of capital ; the one in territory — the other in money — and the
third in muscular strength, or mechanical skill. Each is supposed to
be free, and the only motive which is furnished in the present
system, is tiiat of individual advantage. But it happens necessarily,
that wh-at would be the advantage of one class, is directly opposed
to tha interests of another ; and then each adhering to the common
principle, it is clear that he or they who have most power to hold
out, will be able to damage or destroy the antagonist interest of the
other. The influences to be derived from a high and enlightened
appreciation of human worth, according to the standard of revela-
tion, seem to have been shut out from the practical and theoretic
economy of modern nations. The interest of the body, in its
relation with material wealth, limited, of course, to this present life,
is the narrow and ignoble sphere within which political economy
affects to move.
I must not proceed, however, with views of this kind, until I
shall have anticipated an objection which has already, perhaps,
arisen in your minds, in seeming refutation of what is here advanced.
And this is, that the immense wealth, the wonderful power, and
unequalled prosperity of England, as a nation, is a practical proof
of the soundness of her Political Economy. Or, it may be, that an
assumption, which has often been proclaimed, has presented itself
to your mind as a yet stronger refutation, namely: that the wealth
of England, her power and prosperity are owing to her profession
of the Protestant religion, and the play of those energies which that
religion is supposed to foster and develope.' Now, with the qualifica-
tions which will occur during the course of these remarks, I admit
the truth of both these obser\ations. That England is the wealthiest
nation on the globe, is indisputable. But it is to be remarked, that
this wealth is in the hands of a small portion of her inhabitants ;
and we can form some idea of its amount from the fact, that we
read of private individuals, whose annual income is not less than
half a million of pounds sterling. That must, indeed, be a wealthy
country, in which the income of a private gentleman, for a period
of twelve months, would be sufficient to pay the salary of our
President for nearly a hundred years ! But perhaps no stronger
instance could be adduced, to show how unequally the wealth of
England is distributed among its inhabitants, than such a case as
this, contrasted with the hundreds of thousands and millions of the
people, who are sunk and sinking under the combined evils of
moral and physical destitution. Taking the population of the three
Icingdoms together, as constituting one political family, it will be
found that there is no nation of the world, and above all no Chris-
SCIENCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMY. 517
tian nation, in which there is such an amount of poverty and
■wretchedness as in England.
She has, indeed, fought the great battle for wealth with other
countries, and has, by universal consent, gained the victory. But
how comes it that, while a few of her sons are rioting in the spoils
of the vanquished, the cries of the wounded and dying of her own
battalions, are heard on every side ? How comes it that, in Ire-
land, out of a population of between eight and nine millions, there
are over two millions absolutely dependent on the charity of others,
scarcely a degree above their own condition ? How comes it that,
in Scotland, misery and destitution are hardly less genei'al, and, from
other causes, perhaps even more excruciating still ? How comes it
that, in England itself, distress among the laboring classes presses,
at intervals, to such an extreme point, as to threaten, from time to
time, insurrection and revolution ? How comes it, in fine, to happen
th.at, vvhila the dogs of landlords and capitalists are well fed and well
hou>ed — while their horses are daintily provided for, the sons and
daughters of Britons around them go forth with gaunt looks and
sunken features, through want , of food ? These are results which
pmzle political economists, but which never could have happened, if
Political Economy had not been transferred from the Christian basis
on which it was originally reared in that country, to the inadequate
foundations of mere individual interest. I am willing, then, to
ascribe to the Protestant religion, the credit of England's wealth;
but her poverty, aiid the destitution of her millions, must, I insist
upon it, be charged to the same acconnt. This, however, only in so
far as these results have been brought about by the Political Economy
of that country. Other causes may have contributed to both — such
as the system of colonization and military conquest, in which Eng-
land has been no less distinguished. Neither would I have it to be
tmderstood, that I regard the national character of the people of
that country as diifering essentially from that of other nations. If
it be true, as some say it is, that, as a nation or as individuals, they
are proverbially selfish, I do not ascribe it so much to any inherent
deficiency of moral excellence or feeling, as I do to their system of
Public Economy, which has so long prevailed, that it has gradually
become, as it were ingrained into the habits, principles, sentiments
and associations of the people. Unfortunately, the same feelings
with the prevalence of the same system, are extending to other
nations ; and if they should continue, as appears quite likely, it may
be diflicult, at no distant day, to determine which will be entitled to
pre-eminence on this score. There is, it is but jus^i to add, perhaps
no other nation in which there is a greater readiness to come to the
relief of public distress, when it can be remedied, than in England.
But the root of the disease is deep in the social condition of the
country: and the highest effort of modern statesmen, political
economists, and philanthropists, is to apply palliatives to the evils
which it must produce, without daring to eradicate or disturb the
principle from which they flow.
518 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Let US, then, go back to the origin of this system, aud trace its
workings in connection with Political Economy, and we shall, per-
haps be able to discover the sources from which both the wealth and
the poverty of England have been derived. At the beginning of the
sixteenth century, England, as a manufacturing country, had no pre-
eminence, and was scarcely equal to France, Italy, Spain and the Neth-
erlands. Up till that period, the profession of the same rehgion had
established, throughout all these nations, a certain type of uniformity,
in reference to moral as well as religious questions, constituting a
standard common to them all. This, however, did not interfere
with the peculiar genius and national characteristics of eacb people.
But, in reference more especially to certain social questions, such as
the exercise of charity, making provision for the poor, seasons of re-
ligious observances, days of rest, and the like, the usages of the dif-
ferent nations approached sufficiently near to uniformity. England,
as is known, broke away from this religious connection. The Chris-
tianity which she embraced in its stead was based upon an entirely
different principle, as regards the social relations. The merit of good
works was rejected as an erroneous doctrine, and it was ascertained
that salvation is by faith alone. This is not the time nor the place
to inquire which of these two systems is true, in a theological point
of view. But they are mentioned in contrast, as having been calcu-
lated to affect most seriously the social relations, especially in refer-
ence to the condition of the poor. Up to that period, the influence
of the Christian religion on the hearts of the people was sufficient tp
provide, by voluntary contribution, for the necessities of the desti-
tute ; and it was a great safeguard for that unfortunate class, that
the wealthy were under the conviction, right or wrong, of the im-
portance and advantage to themselves, of doing good to their neigh-
bor. When the universal belief was, that even " a cup of cold water
given in the name of a disciple, should not be without its reward,"
the efforts and sacrifices made spontaneously, to remedy or provide
against distress, could not have been regarded either as vain or un-
productive expenditure of capital.
But another and more obvious result of the change was, in the
increased production which England was enabled to bring forth, in
consequence of having abolished the religious holidays of the ancient
church. These, at that time, were little short in number of one day
in each week. The original motive for their institution was not
exclusively religious. Those days furnished seasons of rest for the
serfs or slaves of the middle ages; and thus, by diminishing the
profits of their lords, and furnishing themselves with such opportu-
nities of education and moral elevation as the times afforded, pre-
pared them gradually for the free condition. By abolishing them,
Engknd was enabled to present a production of nearly two months'
labor, in each year, more than the other States that still adhered to
the ancient system. The consequence of this was, that, by inci'eas-
ing the amount, she diminished the value of }icr productions. Through
this diminution in their \'alue, she was enabled to undersell her
SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 519
^
rivals, first in all neutral foreign markets ; and then, following up,
with energy and perseverance, the advantages thus gained, she was
enabled to undersell them in their own countries, and take possession
of their own markets. Thus she began to drain other countries of
their circulating medium,' which became again a new instrument in
developing still further the advantages of her position.
At first sight, it may appear to some that a circumstance, appar-
ently so inadequate, is insufficient to have brought about such results.
But we may illustrate its operation by an analogous case, on a small
scale. All over this country there is a class of mechanics occupied in
the manufacture of shoes. But there is in particular one village or
town, in New England, that is,celebrated for the number of its inhab-
itants and the amount of capital engaged in that branch of industry.
Now, let us suppose that the people of that town find it consistent
with their religious sense of duty to add the labor of Sunday to that
of the other days in each week. What will be the consequence, in
regard to the other shoemakers throughout the country who will
still feel the obligation of sanctifying the Sabbath day ? The conse-
quence will be, that Lynn will be able to furnish shoes cheaper than
they, and yet receive an equal amount of wages, though for a larger
amount of labor. Her mechanics, therefore, can undersell their
rivals elsewhere, on the principle well understood in political econ-
omy, that the increase of production is the cheapening of the value of
labor. Suppose that each workman can produce a pair of shoes per
day, the shoemaker of Lynn can sell seven pairs for the price of his
week's toil, whUe those of his business in other places can sell but
six for the same money ; and as the buyer has in this his advantage,
he will purchase from the Lynn manufacturer rather than from the
manufacturer of his own town. The money, consequently, expended
for this article, will find its way to Lynn, and in a little time, together
with the increased labor, will enable the manufacturers of that place
to break down their rivals throughout the country. With this
increase of capital the manufacturers of Lynn may, for a time, in
order to supply the increasing demand for their article, afford to pay
higher wages to their workmen ; but the consequence will be, that,
for sake of this wages, the number of workmen will be increased,
and the policy, when the supply shall have equalled the demand, will
begin to react upon the workmen themselves, and lead to a reduction
of their wages. In its course, however, that policy will have par-
alyze4 or destroyed this branch of industry, wherever those who are
engaged in it refuse to work 'on Sunday.*
* It was the discovery of this advantage which prompted the propagators of the
revolutionary doctrines in France to declaim, with such vehemence, against the reli-
gious festivals of that country. And, in the wildness of infidelity and materialism
which characterized the Kevolution itself, it was decreed that there should be one day
of rest only after nine, instead of six days of labor. In like manner, now, at least, one
of the results of the policy of England has been the abolition, in great part, ot the
ancient religious holidays, even in Catholic countries. And in France itself, it is a
lamentable fact, that even the Lord's day is no longer kept holy, except by the truly
religious portion of the country ; but, as regards manufacturing industry, the works
arc continued without distinction of days.
520 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Thus, precisely, has it happened in the history of manufactures in
England, as compared with the other nations of Europe. The re-
sults of the entire national industry, during some forty or forty-five
days in each year, gave her the first a.dvantage over her rivals.
This brought her capital, and drained from them their resources. It
made her strong, and left them weak and exhausted. By means of
capital she was enabled not only to increase the quantity, but also to
improve the quality, of her productions, to a degree which they
could not rival ; and if, at different subsequent periods, they attempted
to revive their manufactures, even by artificial means, British skill
and British capital were prompt, even at a 'ifjtle sacrifice, if neces-
sary, to' effect their extinguishment. # Thus, England became a mon-
opolist in the market of nations — thus, their wealth flowed to her
workshops— thus, competition was destroyed abroad ; and the foun-
dation laid at home for that superabundance of riches by which she
has been enabled to borrow from her own subjects almost the whole
of her national debt, amounting to some eight hundred millions of
pounds sterling. It is not pretended that this is the only cause of
the great aggregate wealth of England ; but so far as it comes under
the head of Political Economy, it was one great cause, of which the
comparative poverty of other European nations is as manifestly •
another consequence. Here, then, we see the principle of interest
operating in its national form ; and, thus concentrated, powerful
enough to sustain England, in competition, against the world. But
having been successful in putting down all foreign competition, how
did this principle operate on the condition of its own inhabitants ?
The contest now is among those three classes into which Political
Economy is pleased to distribute her people. The interest of the
manufacturer, as a capitalist, is in the profits of his production.
When the markets are brisk and the demand great, he will make
lai;ge returns by his investments. But still, if he can cheapen the
cost of production, he will be increasing his profits on both sides.
Hence the laborer must maintain his interest, against that of the
capitalist. Both are free ; and labor is a commodity liable to rise
and fall, like every other thing, with the fluctuations of trade. But
the position of the laborer is unfortunate, inasmuch as the interests
of the capitalist must be pro\ided for before his can be reached.
He may, indeed, refuse to work for less than fair wages ; but no
matter how just his pretensions on that score, the hunger that stands
at the portals of his dwelling, threatening both himself and his family,
if he do not work, renders him perfectly unequal to the contest.
He must give in ; for the same policy which annihilated competition
in other nations, employs that same competition at home, for the
increase of profits by the reduction of wages, or even the occasional
suspension of labor altogether. Add to this the introduction of
machinery, within the last fifty years. It is estimated that the ma-
chinery of England, in the various departments of industrial produc-
;tion, is equal to the labor of a hundred millions of workmen. Be-
;-BidfiSj at the present time, almost every nation has, at length, been
SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 621
aroused to the subject of manufactures, and has come to the conclu-
sion that it is wiser to encourage and employ its own laborers, than
to spend the amount of money which such employment may cdst in
the purchase of British goods. If, then, we take the actual condition
of the poorer classes of Great Britain, depending in a great measure
on this class of employment for the moans of life, in connection with
the rising manufactures of other States, and take in the future which
statesmen ought to anticipate, it will appear doubtful whether, even
in an economical point of view, the policy of England has not been a
short-sighted policy after all.
Let us now turn to the condition of the agricultural laborers 6f
Great Britain. One would suppose that their condition should be
improved by the transition of so many from their ranks to those of
manufacturing industry. But this is not the case ; for, as a class,
they are not so well off as they were several centuries ago. They
cannot, at present, obtain for a day's wages more than one-fourth of
the amount of food which could be j)urchased for a day's labor, up
to the reign of Henry VIII. In an act, or rather the preamble of an
act, passed in his reign, 1533, "beef, pork, mutton, and veal" are
mentioned as the ordinary "food of the poorer sort;" so that the
agricultural laborers of the present day require to have three hun-
dred per cent, added to their actual wages, in order to live as well as
their predecessors did, three centuries ago ! Here is an awful dete-
rioration in their condition. A precarious, and, at best, a scanty
supply of the cheapest, and, consequently, poorest kind of food, is
all they can now obtain in exchange or recompense for their inces-
sant toil. And hence they are described and represented, in public
and official documents, as on the verge of absolute pauperism. Why
and how has all this come to happen ? The question is the more
startling, because, during this period, the aggregate wealth of the
nation has increased many hundred fold. To my mind, however,
the answer is simple. It has happened, because, during this period,
the whole practical economy of the country has been transferred
from the ancient basis, and left to be regulated ort the exclusive
principle of universal, material self-interest. It is all very fine, to
T;alk, as we Americans do, of the " immense wealth of England ;"
and, as the English themselves do, of the " sturdy reliance and m.anly
bearing of a. British operative" — as contrasted with the humble de-
portment of corresponding classes in other European States. But
Political Economy has not seen, or, seeing, has not dared to denounce
the social blunder — the mockery of freedom — which are presented in
the spectacle of the starving laborer maintaining a contest of compe-
tition with the bloated capitalist. Each, in that contest, is referred
back to his own interest ; and while the interest of the one is to
increase, or at least not diminish, his capital, the interest of the
other is simply to escape a death of starvation which is pressing on
him.
If these remarks be deemed sufficient to explain why the condition
of the laboring classes is so much deteriorated from former times.
522 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
wi! may now proceed to explain how the thing has been brought
about.
In order to do this, it will be necessary to recur briefly to the
social condition of England antecedent to the change of religion in
that country. N'othing is more true, than that a large portion of
the wealth and of the real estate of the country were in the hands
of the clergy. The origin of their title was as just and as authentic
as that of any other property in Europe. The wealth which they
possessed was the growth of time — the result of their own industry,
economy, and the gradual increase in the value of their estates. The
church, and its principles — or rather, the principle of Christianity,
working out through the living agencies of the church — had become
interwoven, to a certain extent, with all the relations of social life.
It operated as an invisible bond, binding together the various ranks,
classes, and conditions of the whole people ; and correcting or
reconciling the antagonism of mere material interests, by the influ-
ence of other interests relating to another world. It was as the
cement in the social edifice. After the serfs of the middle ages had
passed into the condition of tenants and free laborers, those who
occupied or cultivated the lands of the monasteries and of the church
had kind and indulgent landlords to deal with. In fact, all this
property, as to its advantages, belonged rather to the poor at large,
than to those who were its nominal propi'ietors. The law of the
church regulated its uses. Its revenues, by this law, were divided
into three portions. The first was sacred to the maintenance of the
poor ; the second was appropriated to the repairs of the churches,
and the improvement of ecclesiastical property. Out of the third,
the clergy were entitled to their support ; and if still there remained
a surplus, this also was a charge on their conscience, as belonging
to the poor. It is -not pretended in these remarks, that this law. was,
in all cases, strictly observed. But yet, the absence of all destitu-
tion and suffering among the poor, except in seasons of famine, is a
sufficient proof that it was substantially attended to ; since we find
that there was no other poor law needed in the country, except that
of Him who said, " The poor you have always with you, and when
you will, you can do good unto them."
When the change of religion took place in England, the possession
of those ecclesiastical estates, and this wealth, constituted perhaps
the greatest error of the church. They excited the cupidity of the
monarch and his parasites. And if monasteries were denounced as
citadels of luxury, indolence, and crime — if celibacy was held up as
a variation from the law of God, and an injury to the welfare of the
State, the motives of the declaimers against both are fairly liable to
suspicion, when it is remembered that the wealth of the assailed was
to become the prey and patrimony of the assailant. The secular
clergy were, with few exceptions, brought into the measures of the
monarch. The inmates of the cloisters, male and female, were
turned adrift on the world, and added to the ranks of the destitute
whom they had hitherto been accustomed to relieve. The estates
SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECOXOMY 523
of the church were seized by the ancestors of many of the landlords
and noble families of the present day. The fathers and mothers of
the poor in the religious communities of both sexes, that were scat-
tered from point to point over the surface of England, were driven
from their peaceful abodes, and their estates seized in the private
right of private individuals. The consequence of all this was, that
in less than half a century there was not concern enough for the poor
left remaining in the hearts of the people to provide for their support,
without the aid, or rather the coercion of an act of Parliament. This
is the first instance in the annals of Christian nations, in which the
principles of religion were found insufficient to furnish a spontaneous
provision for the destitute. The burthens of their support necessa-
rily fell upon the occupants and cultivators of the soil. The lands
of the church were rented out on the principle of the proprietor's
interest, modified only by two considerations — one was the extent
of competition among the applicants ; and the other was, the amount
of rent which might be exacted without depriving the tenants and
their families of the means, at least necessary, for subsistence.
Hence, weighty rents ; and as the landlords were for the most part,
the law-makers also, hence too, in process of time, those statutes in
favor of landlord mterests, which in our days are familiarly known
under the designation of corn-laws. Does not every one see that all
such legislation, whatever may be its other efiects, must tend to
diminislr the wages of all the productive and laboring classes, by
either diminishing the quantity, or raising the price, of bread ? So
that if you look to the relations thus created between the laborers
of England and the other two classes into which j)olitical economists
have divided the population, namely, landlords and capitalists, it
would seem as if the whole practical purpose of public economy has
been to reduce the working people down to that condition in which
Malthus has discovered what he calls the "natural standard of
wages " — which means, perhaps, a little more than is barely sufficient
to keep the workman's soul and body together.
It is impossible not to perceive, in all this, the injurious effect of
the principle to which we have already, more than once, alluded, aS
the actual regulator of Political Economy in Great Britain, namely,
self-interest. Viewed according to the light of this principle, it was
perfectly natural for those who were at once landlords and law-
makers, to secure to themselves the largest amount of rents ; and to
throw ofi", on others, the weight of every public burthen. In former
times, the system presented the resources of the poor, from the very
land which produced the crop. But now, the whole crop is claimed
for the benefit of the landlord; and the tax, for the support of the
poor, is to be gathered, not from those who grow the wheat, but
from those who eat the bread ; that is to say, in every nine cases out
of ten, from the laboring classes themselves. Thus the laboring
classes of England are placed as in a cleft stick, between capitalists
and landlords, and feel the efieets of pressure from both sides :_ f ;om
' the one side, in the reduction of wages ; and from the other, in the
increased prices of food.
524 AKCIIBISHOP HUGHES.
The consequence now is, that in that country, including the three
kingdoms, there is poverty and distress, such as cannot be found in
the civilized world besides. In other countries there is less of aggre-
gate wealth ; bui in no nation is there to be found so much, or such
intense, misery, as among the poor of England. Nothing can show
this more fully than the official reports made, from time to time, by
order of Parliament, on their condition. Leaving thq condition of
the agricultural laborers aside, the reports on the condition of labor-
ers in mines and manufactories present a picture of physical and
moral destitution such as it is appalling to contemplate. We read,
for instance, of children's being employed from the age of seven
years and upward. And why is this? Because a child is as good
as an adult person in waiting on the evolutions of machinery. Now
the wages of a child is less than that of a man, and interest whispers
to the employer to give the child the preference. It matters not
that the delicate limbs of such beings are unable to support their
bodies during the long hours of labor. It matters not that they be-
come deformed, and contract physical maladies, which will accom-
pany them through the remainder of their wretched lives. These
things go on — for interest so determines it — until Parliament 's at
length obliged to pass enactments to interdict such outrages off the
rights of childhood.
It is quite honorable to the feelings of the English people that
they should sympathize in the sufferings of those who are in the con-
dition of slaves throughout the v7orld. But while her gaze can ex-
tend across the Atlantic ; and while her honest and genuine sympathy
is often disgraced by the cant and fanaticism of those who would
be its oi'gans, surely it cannot be wrong for us to sympathize with
those of her own population, whom avarice, or the interests of capital
have buried in tlie bowels of the earth in her mining districts. Del-
icate women and tender children, as repoi'ted to Parliament, were
found in the mines, with harness fitted to them, and obliged to drag
loads on their hands and knees, after the manner of beasts. Passing
from these again, to the pauper class, we see that the Public Econ-
*omy directs their classification in a manner such as, in some coun-
tries, would be regarded as a violation of the rights of human nature.
The dearest ties — even those which constitute the last sweet drop,
in the cup of povertj^, are rudely disregarded and ruptured. Hus-
bands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, are sep-
arated from each other, and distributed in the establishments of public,
relief, as if they were malefactors, guilty of some social crime. Now,
the worst feature in this system of ]?olitical Economy is, not pre-
cisely that the facts are so ; but that the prejudices of the nation,
like the principles of the science itself, as looking to individual in-
terest as the Ufe-spring of society, do not allow them even to con-
ceive that things ought to be otherwise. And so true is this, that,
according to the recognized principle, you may pass all the various
members of society in review, and you will be unable to discover to
whom the fault belongs; and in. fact, according to the principle
SCIBNCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMY. 625
of self-interest, the fault belongs nowhere! Every man for him-
self. _ ^
It is the contemplation of all this that has impelled many benevo-
lent, but, as I conceive, mistaken persons, to conclude that society in
general is organized on a a icions principle. Individuals of this de-
scription have stood forth, in France, England, and this country
also, flattering themselves with the hope of "being able to withdraw
some portion of their fellow-beings from the miseries which they re-
gard as essentially connected with the actual state of things. For
this purpose, various schemes, and schools of Political Economy
have made their appearance, encouraging separate systems of private
socialism, founded each on some favorite theory. These either have
failed, or will fail ; and principally for the reason that, while they
have discovered the self-inieresi which operates so injuriously in the
present systems, they have not discovered in those which they would
substitute any other principle of sufficient power to correct it. This
can be done only through a renovated faith, and a practical exercise
of the virtues prescribed by religion. The tendency of society in
general, at least in all that appertains to Political Economy, is in the
opposite direction ; and there is but little hope that its course will
be arrested until nations, as well as individuals, shall have been pun-
ished for their great social error.
How much ink has been shed in describing the evils which now
press on the people, at least the laboring classes, of Great Britain !
How much of profound meditation has been employed, in vain efforts
to find a solution for the social problem of that country ! And
though many of her statesmen have begun to trace these evils back
to their true cause, yet few have proclaimed the discovery, and
fewer still have ventured to suggest the true remedy. Sometimes
the evils are charged to one cause, sometimes to another. Now, it
is the " restrictions on commerce ;" and now, it is an " excess of popu-
lation over and above the wants of consumption." But no one has,
as yet, contended for the true cause ; that is, the absence of a reli-
gious power which should be able to extend the obligation of duties,
in exact proportion with the extension of rights. The social machine,
in its relations to Political Economy, has taeen left to regulate itself,
by the spring of mere individual interest ; and it is manifest that the
weights and balances necessary to restore its equilibrium and to
regulate its motion, cannot be adjusted except by, the invocation of
some extrinsic power, such as can be found in practical Christianity
alone. The earth is not expected to furnish itself with light and
heat : these come from the sun. So also, with regard to the prac-
tical Political Economy of modern nations — unless its lij)sbe touched
and purified with living coiils from the altars of" Divine Religion, it
can never' accomplish the entire purpose, according to which society
is an institution of God. Any religion which can accomplish this,
whatever may be the truth or the error of its other dogmas, will
have rendered essential service to humanity. It is op this account
that Political Economy, as a science, appears to me inadequate and
526 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
defective. It would be more complete, and certainly more exalted,
if, instead of regarding man as the mere " producer " and " con-
sumer " of material wealth, it took cognizance ' of his intellectual,
moral, and religious nature. It may, however, be objected, that
these faculties, being spiritual and not material, have nothing to do
with the subject. This seems to me an unfounded conclusion. The
ancient Persians, for instance, held, as a religious opinion, that anj'-
thiug which could defile the waters of the ocean was sinful. Here,
then, is an important branch of Political Economy — maritime com-
merce— affected by a religious conviction ! After the expulsion of
the missionaries from Japan, the government of that country re-
quired that the merchants of Europe who wished to trade with its
own, should, as a condition, xine qua non, trample on the emblem of
Christianity, the cross. Holland, alone, agreed to the terms. Here,
then, the absence of a religious conviction on the mind of one nation
of Europe affected the entire trade of Christendom with Japan !
The calculations of revenue formed by Sir Robert Peel are founded
on the most positive data of Political Economy ; and yet, an idea —
a moral idea — springing into the mind of a humble but excellent
priest in Cork,* disturbs the minister's conclusions, to the amount of
between two and three millions of our currency, in the annual excise
duties on one single article ! Time does not permit me to enlarge
on the proofs, or facts, going to show that not only intellect and moral
sentiment, but also the affections and virtues of the heart, have all
of them an essential bearing on the subject.
In assuming the " importance of a Christian basis " for Political
Economy, I did not indeed imagine, as you may easily conceive, that
the system now so deeply and almost universally established, could
be transferred to any other foundation than that on which it rests.
But when I consider the nature of the evils which press upon so
large a portion of modern society, it seems to me that a preventive,
if not a remedy, is discoverable in the Political Economy (so to call it)
of the old Catholic Church. She had, preeminently, the faculty of
guiding the affections and energies of mankind, in the direction most
requii-ed by the actual wants of society in given times and circum-
stances. She differed from th-e modern religions, essentially on one
great point ; namely, that, while they teach that salvation is " by
faith alone," and that good works have no merit, though they are
provided for, as consequences of faith, she taught that they are to be
concomitants of behef ; that fiiith without works, is dead in itself!
and that wh.atever good we do to one of the least of Christ's disci-
ples, He will reward as if done to himself. This is the turning point
of difference between the Political Economy of the Catholic Church
and that of the religions which ha^'e been substituted in its stead.
Thus, she created an intei-est not to be estimated by the acquisition
or exchange of material wealth, but by the consideration of advan-
tages in the spiritual order and in the life to come. This doctrine,
like the principle of life in the human body, vivified the spirit, and
* Futher Mathew.
SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMT. 527
influenced the actions of all her members. Besides, she conceived
Kiiman nature as having been exalted and ennobled through the Incar-
nation and Redemption, by the Son of God. Hence she valued
liuman beings according to the high dignity of their ransom,, irre-
spective of wealth or poverty. She has, indeed, been rejtroached
^vith the tendency to abridge the rights of men. But the explana-
tion of this is to be found in tjie fact, that the inherent selfishness of
fallen humanity prompts them to claim injurious immunities ; while,
as she conceived, her office was to apportion duties according to the
means which providence furnished for the discharge of them. Men
are prompt to assert their rights ; but prone to forget that every
r'ight is accompanied with a corresponding duty. To every class
and condition she assigned its own peculiar range of Christian obli-
gation. To sovereigns and legislators, those of justice and mercy in
the enactment and execution of laws. To the rich, moderation in
enjoyment, and liberality toward the poor. To the poor, patience
under their trials, and afi'eotion toward their wealthier brethren.
Toward all, the common obligation of loving one another, not in
word, but in deed. ISTeither was this by a uniform development of
the principles of the Christian doctrine from the_pulpit alone, but by
a rigid process of self-examination and self-aceusation, which was
incumbent on every individual, when preparing for the Sacraments
of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist. Here, the lawgiver, the
landlord, the capitalist, and the laborer — all men of all classes — were
required to stand at least once a year in judgment vpon themselves, in
the presence of God and of his minister.
Far be it from me to insinuate or assert, that these great leading
duties are not set forth to the people by the religions which have
taken the place of the Catholic faith in Great Britain. But I think
it will be evident that, in them all, there are wanting the means for
their practical inculcation. First, because the paramount motive
has been utterly destroyed by rejecting the "merit of good works,"
arid proclaiming "salvation by faith alone." It is, indeed, alleged
that, by a higher motive still, works, as the consequence, or fruits,
or evidence, of faith, are provided for. But still, those who enjoin
works of this Irind, since they declare them to be of "no merit" in
the sight of God, seem to pull down with one hand what they have
built up with the other. Besides this, in the new systeoir of religion,
every man claims to be the judge of his moral duties, as well as of his
religious faith. Thus you perceive that the only motives left, as
inducements for the performance of good works, in this system,_ are
essentially of the human and temporal order. Now the manifestations
of these fundamental principles are obvious, in the social develop-
ments under the influfence of the two religions. Of its consequences,
in the one case, the preceding remarks of this lecture are a sufficient
exhibition. Rights are claimed— interests are prosecuted— every
one that can, throws the burthen from himself. Each is the judge
of his own moral and social duties — and self love blinds him against
what would require the sacrifice of his material interests, even if re-
528 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
ligron presentcjcl any adequate motive for making that sacrifice.
Wealth is accumulating enormously on one side — poverty, deep and
distressing, spreads on the other : England is the richest and the
poorest country on the globe ; and where, or to whom, belongs the
guilt of this social anomaly, no man can determine !
The type of the other doctrine has developed itself in those prin-
ciples and institutions which incur the censure, and sometimes the
hatred, even of those who are the victims of their overthrow. If
they were errors in religion, it is the more to be regretted, as they
would have been blessings in Social, if not in Political Economy. They
would have been, first of all, a merciful resource for the condition
of the poor, w^hioh now constitutes the great pvzzle of Political
Economists, throughout the three kingdoms. The interests of man
— taking in his spiritual nature and his eternal destiny — would be
surveyed from 'a high and holy eminence. And when the rich man
gave of his abundance to the needy, he would be acting, not against,
but according to this principle of Christian interest. When the
prince or the noble, moved by the " Am'or Jesu nobilis" descended
from his elevated position, to put on the sandals, the garment, and
the girdle of religious poverty, in some monastic order, he under-
stood, perfectly well, what he was about — comprehended the
advantage of the step ; and, whether he was mistaken or not, his
determination was of infinite irapoirtance to the condition of the
destitute. He became poor from a religious motive, having first,
perhaps, given his property to the relief of the class to whose condi-
tion he attached himself. He became their mediator with the rich
— his own example had a powerful influence On them.^ — ^he represented
the necessity of alms-deeds— he spoke of their common Saviour, as
having, in his own person, selected the condition of poverty ; and
reminded them that whatever they did for their sufiering brethren,
was done for Christ.
It was by the spirit of this doctrine of good works, that hospitals
and asylums for the afliicted, sprang, as if spontaneously, into
existence, in all parts of Great Britian, as well as of other European
countries. It was by this that every kind of social evil, whether in
physical suifering or in moral destitution, found whole armies of volun-
teers, ready to go in the face of pestilence and death, and this without
human recompense, to counteract its ravages. It was by this, that
individuals were constantly found ready to devote themselves to
every species of good works.
The question in connection with this subject, is not whether these
individuals were acting imder a genuine principle of Christianity or
not — but it is, whether their devotion had any bearing upon the
Political Economy of the country. That it had, is in my mind^
beyond dispute. Firstly : In such a state of things, no poor law
would be necessary. Secondly: The burthen of their support
would not be regarded as a burthen, but as a privilege, and would
fall on individuals in the rank of landlords and capitalists, instead
of labprers as at present. Thirdly : The expense of supporting the
SCIENCE or roLiTicAL ECONOJiy. 529
po'pi- would not be increased bj" the enormous sums which ^are
paid to _ state officers, in that department. Fourthly : The
ecclesiastical revenues, which have now quite a diiferent direction,
would be applied to that purpose. Fifthly : But Ijesides all this,
the iufluence of the doctrine I have alluded to, would infuse a spirit
of gentle kindness into the treatment of the poor, which would
leave no_ room for those dark and bitter passions against society,
with which their breasts are now, too often, agitated ; for it is a
shocking feature of our times, that distinguished writers on Political
Economy, have gone so far, as to maintain that poverty when it
reaches the point of destitution ought to be treated as " infamy," in
order to make the struggle for self support of the sinking laborer
" honorable."
If this reasoning, and these reflections be correct we see what
has been the cause of the prevailing distress ; and what would have
been the preventive or the remedy. And in either case, the great
social calamity which is every day becoming more and more
formidable, in the estimation of British statesmen and political
economists, instead of being, as it now is, apparently irremediable,
would never have existed at all.
Some may imagine that in following out this subject, my judgment
has been warped by a natural partiality for the religion to which I
belong. This is, indeed, possible ; but I can only say, that if it be
true, I am entirel)^ unconscious of it. Neither, at th<j present day,
are these views peculiar to Catholics : a declaration briefly uttered,
among others, by a distinguished Protestant statesman, Lord John
Manners, expresses a similar conclusion, when lie says, " that the
re-establishment of the monasteries which have been destroyed, can
alone provide a suitable remedy for the condition of the poor."
What, we may now ask, would be the influence of the Political
Economy of the ancient Church on the class of society immediately
next above pauperism ! Of this we may judge by the fact already
noticed, that during its prevalence, the English laborer could ex
change a days work for four or fi%'e times the quantity of food
which a day's labor will now bring. But what it may be asked,
• had the doctrines of the CluTrch to do with a result like this ? They
had simply this : that from principles already referred to, her
policy, if I can use the expression, was directed to, or at least
resulted in, two consequences ; — one was, to keep up the value of
labor ; the other, to keep down the price of bread. Both of these
objects were included in the economy of religious festivals, which
gave increased value to labor, by diminishing the amount of produc-
tion. Rich and poor, assembled on an equality around the altars.
Those days furnished leisure for the ijoor to be instructed, at least,
in their Christian hopes and duties ; as wellas to repose from toil.
The ceremonies of the" Chruch — the grandeur and beauty of its
architecture — the works of painting, and art, and music which could
be enjoyed'within its walls — exercised a refining influence on their
feelino-s and manners, in the absence of that popular education.
34
530 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
which the multiplication of books and the improvements in know-
ledge have since so much facilitated. It is to be observed, however,
to those who understand no more of the subject, than the silly
charge that,*' the Church in all this encouraged idleness," a more
unfounded imputation could scarcely be conceived. The principle
of the Church, on that subject, may be seen in the rules of her
religious orders. In these, you will find time so distributed, as to
allow periods for labor — for reading — prayer — ^i-epose — but not one
moment for idleness. It is to be remembered, also, that these holi-
days in no way interfered with the crops or productions of the earth.
For, not only was labor allowed, but in many cases, absolutely
enjoined, even on Sundays, . when the inclemencies of the season
endangered the productions of the earth.
What then was the result in the light of Political Economy ?
Simply that which was most important for the consideration of the
laboring classes. The evils of over-prodnction were provided against ;
and thus, the value and adequate price of labor were maintained.
Had this system been continued, seasons of rest would have been pro-
vided for, and regularly distributed, at intervals, throughout the year.
But these days were abolished ; and after capitalists had realized the
advantages of the change, its rebound fell, with terrible effect,, upon
the laborers. Even at reduced wages, they have to encounter sea-
sons when employment is denied for weeks and months. And why
is this? It is from over-production; — the very evil which the
economy of the Church, in the observance of holidays was calculated
to prevent. In the actual condition of the laborers the "want of
employment is synonymous with the want of food ; and when the
cry of distress rings in the ears of their'rulers, it is too often ascribed
to other, than the real causes. The author of the " Essay on Popula-
tion," Malthus, startled Europe with the theory, that mankind
increases in a ratio disproportioned to the means of their support.
He maintained that, inasmuch as population increases in a geometrical
ratio, and the agricultural productions of the earth, only in an arith-
metical degree ; therefore a time inust come, when the excess of the
former over the amount of the latter, would require that a large
portion of the human race should perish ! In this, there is some
ground to believe, that he was misled by confounding the excess of
" production" with excess of " population." If the island of Great
Britain were the only agricultural soil on the globe ; then, indeed,
with its present population, his theory might be correct. But the
earth is teeming with fertility, which the industry of man has not yet
turned to account. If the interested policy of England allowed
other nations to send their surplus agricultural produce, in fair
exchange, for her industrial fabrics, there would be no need for the
invention of this theory. It is estimated that the valley of the
Mississippi, alone, could furnish the staple of life for a population of
one hundred and twenty-five millions. And yet the genius of Political
Economy, in England, was such as to conceal this fact from the mind
of Malthus. And instead of allowing the bread of that valley to
SCIEKCE OF POLITICAL ECOlirOMT. 531
reach the hungry operatives of Manchester ; — in other words, instead
of diminishing the material interests of the British landholder, he
allowed himself, to be thrown on the horrible alternative of recom-
mending, as a prospective remedy, that the increase of population
should, as much as possible, be prevented by restraints on th^
marriage of the poor. But what is more surprising still, is that
his theory should have been received with approbation by distin-
guished writers on Political Economy. Indeed, so far is this true,
that the doctrine is now boldly asserted, that in reality the pauper
has no more right to quarter himself on the public for support than
the rich man ; that if he be so supported, it is owing to the human-
ity of the public, but not due, as a right, to his condition. The
universal doctrine prevalent is, that every man has " a right to do
what he pleases with his own ;" consequently, that, unless compelled
by hiw, he has a right to refuse I'elief from his property, and leave
the sufferer to die ! When Sir Robert Peel, on a late occasion, de-
clared, in Parliament, that property had " duties as well as rights,"
the sentiment was re-echoed by the press, ^\ith one chorus of aston-
ishment ; as if an axiom of morals, as old as the Christian religion,
weie a recent discovery made by the minister.
But, supposing we admit the correctness of the conclusion at
which Mallhus arrived, how awful and retributive is the vindication
which it furnishes of the social economy of the Church in the sanc-
tioning of voluntary celibacy ! The nation that denounced celibacy
when it was a voluntary choice, in the clergy and in the monastic
institutions, are reduced to the necessity of recommending the
etif'iiremenl of it by compulsion, in regard to the poor. If that in-
stitution had continued, how great would have been the public econ-
omy in the support of the clergy! One-twentieth part of the reve-
nues of the Church, at the present time, would be sufficient to sup-
port a single, that is, unmarried clergyman, in the proportion of one
to every one thousand souls of the population. If it be said, that
the ecclesiastical revenues return to the people, through some other
channel, a better condition would be that nineteen-twentieths of it
should not have been taken from them at all. But even the economy
would not be the only advantage. The influence of such a ministry
of religion, acting in a moral direction, could not but produce the
hap]5iest effects among that portion of mankind who are compelled
to toil daily for the means of subsistence. Their pleasures would be
of !i moie rational, more elevating, and, at the same time, more eco-
nomical description. Their feelings and manners would be softened
and improved, by the influence of religion and frequent intei-course
with its ministers. Their moral faculties would be cultivated; and,
if the trials of life bore heavily upon them, religion would still be
near, to console them with the promised hopes and joys of another
world.
As it is, their condition, in all these respects, is exceedingly de-
plorable. We may take a few of the answers given to the commis-
Bioners to establish this point. The following are given in a late
j32 aechbishop hughes.
number of the Edinhurgh Review, as specimens of the " general igno-
rance " and moral destitution :
'■'■Ann Eggley, aged eighteen. 'I am sure I don't know how to
spell my name. I don't know my letters. I went a little to a Sunday-
school, but soon gave it over. 1 walk about and get fresh air on
Sundays. I never go to church or chapel. I never heard of Christ
at .all ; nobody has ever told me about him, nor have my father and
mother ever taught me to pray. I know no prayer. I never pray.
I have been taught nothing about such things.' — App. Paet 1,
p. 232.
'■' Miza Coals, aged eleven. 'I do naught on Sundays. I don't
know where I shall go if I am a bad girl. I never heard of Jesus
Clirist. ■ I think God made the world, but I don't know where God
is.'—Ibid.
" William Cruchilow, aged sixteen. ' I can read the Bible — go to
school five nights in the Aveek. I don't know anything of Moses.
Never heard of France. I don't know what America is. IsTever
heard of Scotland nor Ireland. Can't tell how many weeks there
are in a year. There are twelve pence in a shilling, and twenty
shillings in a pound. There are eight pints in a gallon of ale.'
" Edward Whitehead, aged fifteen. ' I go to church three times
on Sundays. I do not know where Birmingham is, nor where Lon-
don is. I never heard of Ireland ; I have seen Irishmen.'
" William Butler, aged nineteen. 'I go to church on Sundays.
I read the Testament, and sometimes in the Bible, but no other
book. I can say my catechism. We sometimes work a few hours
at a time. When there is no sale, we got no money, but only
ale, when we leave at eleven. I generally get drunk on such occa-
sions.'
" Peter Dale, aged twelve. ' I have been to Sunday-school, and
can read nicely in a spelling-book. (He had been to school about
two years.) Jesus Clirist was God's Son ; he wasn't born at all ;
he was nailed to a cross ; he came to save sinners ; sinners are bad
men that drinked, and swearod, and lied. I think there are sinners
on earth now. If I am a good boy, and try to please him, I shall
go to Jesus — if not, I shall goto hell. I don't know what disciples
were rulers ; they did nothing wrong ; can't tell who the apostles
were. Four times five is twenty; five times six is twenty-eight.
I never heard what's the biggest town in England. Scotland is a
town, isn't it, sir ? I go to chapel as well as school. I never go
larking on Sundays.' — App. Part 1, p. 250."
That these cannot be considered as isolated cases of what the re-
viewers call the " general ignorance," may be inferred from another
official statement, viz., that of 407,894 marriages, of all classes, in
England and Wales, within the last three years, 303,836 of the per-
sons thus married were unable to write their own names.
Such are the results of Political Economy, as based on the prin-
<-iple of individual material interest. It might possibly suffice, if the
means of protecting — e.ach his own interest — -were eqiial'm the hands
SCIENCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMY. 533
of all. But what chance have the jDOor against the rich ; the weak
against tlie strong, under such a system? When all the social
elements of material industry, of consumption, production, capital
and labor, -n-ealth of nations in general, all resolve themselves, by
common consent and established usage, into mere personal selfish-
ness ? Could any other result have been reasonably expected, by
men who understand the feelings and passions of poor fallen nature ?
And what remedy can be applied now? Alas! whatever remedy
either wisdom or philanthropy might suggest, will come too late for
many of the victims that are sinking under this state of things. And
it is feared, even by wise men, that they will lead, at no remote pe-
riod, if they continue on, to some social ca,tastrophe, such as one
shudders to think of. Unquestionably, in the system itself, there
are elements for mitigating these miseries. But the measures for
that purpose can only be presented in the aggregate of abstract
interest, and are still violently opposed by the selfishness of coteries,
and of individuals who have power to resist them. The only way
to apply a corrective to the root of the evil, would be, not indeed to
destroy the jjrinciple of interest, but to enlarge it, to an extent cor-
responding with the whole nature and destiny of man, as made
known through the lessons of our Divine Redeemer. Bring temporal
interests into harmony with spiritual — infuse some portion of the
attributes of God, justice and mercy, into the minds and hearts of
princes, of legislators, of nobles, of landlords ; yea, if possible, of
capitalists and money-changers themselves, as the Christian rules, for
their thoughts and actions toward the weaker classes of their coun-
trymen. Persuade them, not only that there ?« a God in heaven,
but also that He is the common Father of all, rich and poor ; that
they ought to love each other. Bring their hearts nearer to each
other — unite and bind them together, not only as citizens of the same
country, but also as aspirants to the same immortal life and eternal
glory. Any effort toward this will be a step in the gre.at cause of
society and of human natm-e. All this the Church would have done,
without seeming to spend a thought upon it, if you had allowed her
to continue the peaceful mission with which her Founder sent her
forth to the nations of the earth. In times of barbarism _she_ was the
means of erecting for your forefathers a noble and majestic social
edifice, sufficiently ample to shield and protect them all. She would
have enlarged, improved, and adorned it, in proportion to your in-
creasing numbers, and the varying wants of your condition. But
you overthrew this, .and built for yourselves an incongruous and mis-
shapen structure. You are fiiin to call it a social edifice ! But no_:
its true name is a temple of interest. Princes, and lords, and capi-
talists are indeed well provided for, beneath its glittering arches—
a f'ewothers still may find protection within its vestibule ; but as for
you, oh ye millions of the poor and kboring classes, who are called
and compelled to worship at its shrine, ye are strewn around its
outer porches ; and, instead of its sheltering you from the storm
and the rains of adversity, you are even drenched with the waters
534 AECHBISHOP HFGiIES.
that descend from its roof. Go back among the ruins of former
things, you may still find and trace out the deep foundations of the
better edifice you destroyed. And, if there be no other hope for
you, co-operate with Divine Religion in rearing up its stately walls,
and its capacious dome, beneath which, even as regai'ds your tem-
poral condition, you, or at least, the heirs of your condition, your
children, may yet find shelter and protection.
EULOGY ON THE LATE BISHOP FENWICK.
BT THE ET. EEV. BISHOP HUGHES.
"I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept tJie faith.
" For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the Just
Judge, will render to me at that day." — 2 Timothy iv. 7, 8.
The symbols of lamentation by which we now are surrounded,
Christian brethren, render it unnecessary for me to say that death
has been amongst us ; that death has triumphed in our midst. The
habiliments of mourning which deck your church ; the dark livery
of the tomb uplifted on her walls, teach us that all earthly greatness
must be subdued and silent in the presence of the universal con-
queror. The solemn and pathetic tones of the music from yonder
choir intimate the same.
Yet it is not death, so called in the pagan sense of the word. It
is not the total severance of the departed from the survivors, ima-
gined by those who have not been imbued with the spirit of Chris-
tian faith. We are Christians — and to us, since Christ died upon
the cross, death has lost its power. It has become consecrated, so
to speak ; it is no longer a chilling of existence, but a loosing of
earthly bonds — a release, an emancipation, through which the spirit
of man is ushered into the presence of his God. Before us burns
the light — the emblem of our Christian faith. Over us all is the
Cross, reminding us that though it be lawful to sorrow, we are for-
bidden to sorrow as those having no hope.
In this case, indeed, the fatal shaft has been sped at no vulgar
victim. The chalice of benediction, which you see among the tokens
of mourning, proclaims that it is a Priest of the Living God that
has been struck ; the crook, there also, proclaims that it is not only
a priest, but their head — one of the first shepherds of the flock of
Jesus Christ.
Everything connected with this occasion reminds us at once of
the power of death, and of death's want of power. For though it
be our late father in Christ whom we have lost, yet, in the light of
Christian faith, wo are not to regard him as dead. He speaks to us
as one departed, whose teachings and ministrations are to be conse-
crated to all our souls.
EULOGY ON BISHOP FENWICK. 535
Yes, my brethren, the solemnity and mystery of an occasion like
this speak to our souls through every avenue of faith and religious feel-
ing. And it is, therefore, not in a spirit of mere vain or secular usage
that he who now addresses you would call your attention to some
circumstances in the character, history, and life of the deceased. It
is characteristic of our nature to do honor to those who merit it, or
at least to their memory after they have passed away. The great
conqueror, the profound and able legislator, the philanthropic bene-
factor of his race, the vi^ise and good citizen of his country — all these
look forward to the meed of public approbation, in their own time
or that of their successors, and seldom is the anticipation in those
who are really deserving such reward. But it is not merely in ac-
cordance with this dictate of our nature that we would review the
character and history of him whom we have lost. He is now, in-
deed, beyond the reach of praise, which, when alive, his humility
would have disclaimed — nor are his ears liable to be pierced, or his
feelings wounded, by the language of undeserved censure or unjust
reproach'. He has gone before his Maker, but surely his survivors
may say of him, as Paul said of himself to Timothy — he has fought a
good iight, he has kept the faith. And what he hoped for and
labored for while in life, we trust he has already realized ; and that,
instead of the thorny crown Avhich the mitre is, his brows are now
encircled with that immortal crown of glory and recompense which
God has prepared for his sincere and devoted servants.
But we are not assembled simply to do honor to his memory be-
fore the altars where he served. There is more. The death of our
Lord has been again renewed — the victim of propitiation has again
been offered before God — and the soul of the Church breathed forth
in prayer through the lips of her Pontiff, your present pastor, united
with the supplication of her children, and sanctified by union with
the Divine victim of mediation interceding upon the altar, has
ascended like -fragrant incense to heaven. And we would humbly
hope that our prayers, united, plead for him before the tribunalof
God, that if he be yet excluded from participation in the beatific
vision of heaven, God will, in his mercy, remove his earthly stains
and speedily introduce his spirit to the company of saints and angels
around the throne. We dare not say that the object of our sorrow
and our prayers was without imperfection. He himself would have
been the first to rebuke such language. He prayed that God would
be merciful to him, a sinner. He acknowledged his sin and entreated
for pardon. Yet, though we may not deny his imperfections, per-
haps his frailty, may we not also believe we have reason to conclude
that, if not now, yet hereafter and speedily le will stand before his
God, purified of faults, to receive the recompense towards whose
attainment his whole worldly life, and his most ardent and zealous
labors in the cause of his Creator, were unceasingly devoted !
What, my beloved hearers, constitutes the ground of excellence ?
Not merely the exterior act, nor its success. But if we examine,
we shall find that the excellence of any life, any conduct, any char-
acter is composed —
536 AKCiir.isiiOP HUGHES.
1st. Of motive.
2cl. Of action and perseverance.
3d. Of BuiFering, when necessary to promote or redeem tie exe-
cution of the first.
I propose, in this discourse, to examine the life of the deceased
Bishop of Boston, in connection ivith these three tests, by which
alone we can form a correct estimate of his .ictions and character.
On matters of personal history merely, I shall be brief Benedict
Fen wick was descended from one of the mo9t ancient and respecta-
ble families among the Catholic settlers — or Pilgrims, as it was then
the custom to term them — in Maryland, and was born in 1782. It
would appear, though we know not much of the domestic and family
history of his ancestors, that his faith was hereditary, and that in
his immediate family piety had its permanent abode. We may
mention as an evidence of this, that two of the brothers, besides
himself, consecrated themselves and their lives to the service of
God, and the spiritual teaching of their fellow-men, moved and led
— shall we not say ? — by the influence of a pious mother and an ex-
emplary father.
Placed early in the , college at Georgetown, Benedict Penwick
was distinguished for his industry and assiduity, and amenity of his
manners, that gentleness of his heart, and for much success in his
career. That institution does not indeed hold forth those splendid
promises of universal science and extraordinary education which we
sometimes meet with : its language is more modest, but it accom-
plishes all to whic'li it does pretend. Its aim is chiefly to form the
heart and improve tlie mind ; and if it excels in anything, it is pecu
liarly in solidity as contrasted with pretence. At this institution he
finished his course of instruction.
He had completed his collegiate education, and at a time of life
Avlicn other young men are looking out into the world, seeking how
best and most they m.ay distinguish tliemselves in the eyes of their
fellow-men — when wealtli holds out its allurements in prospect —
when ambition ami the tliirst of power, or the lust of pleasure—
wlien, at the age of twenty-three, all worldly inducements were be-
setting him as well as others — it was then, through the influence of
the Spirit of God, that these things lost all charm to him. His eye
was attracted to the house of Jacob and the tents of Israel. There
li'as in his neighborhood an institution of that order of the Catholic
priesthood which has been distinguished throughout the world by
the success it has met, and the malice .and envy that have been ar-
rayed against it. To that institution his mind was drawn, and offered
himself as a novice of the Society of Jesus, and was accepted.
And here let me pause a moment to remark, that the motive whicli
prompted such an act in such a man, is one the elevation of wdiich a
mere worldly mind cannot by any possibility conceive ; because it
is the effect of confidence in the holiness of the lives of those to
whom, he proposes to join himself. It is not to secure protection
from the world's evil, but i' is as if one should say — "here I am;
EULOGY ON BISHOP FENAYICK. 53"?
receive me." ISTo matter how lowly the lot to which he may be
assigned, no matter what danger of pestilence or disease he is to ex-
perience, no matter how remote the scene or how distant the end of
his labors, he has already acknowledged obedience. He has been
accepted, and henceforward his own will ceases to be his rnle. Can
there be self-abnegation stronger than is shown here ? I am aware
that this very circumstance is made a ground of objection to this
institution in worldly minds, but that point we are not called on to
consider at this time. I offer to your contemplation the spectacle of
a young man giving himself wholly up to God — with only one^ single
star to guide his course, and that star the Greater Glory of God and
advantage of ITis kingdom, with the resulting benefit to man.
When did motive so pure ever influence a philanthi-opist ? The
philanthropist, indeed, can weave fine sentences of good will to man-
kind, can promulgate splendid theories of benefit and progress, is
even capable of glorious sacrifices — not, however, concealed from
the eye of his fellow-men — and may be .an honor or a treasure to his
race ! All this I readily admit. But when did philanthropist ever
act on such a motive as we see here — the holy, the divine motive of
entire and sole devotion to God !
After the completion of his theological studies, the subject of our
discourse was sent to New York. This was in 1808, at which pe-
riod there M'as but one church, and but one or two clergymen, besides
himself, in the whole diocese. There are citizens now living there
who remember his earliest ministry ; who can recall to mind the
humble, patient, yet earn%st and zealous priest, traversing the streets
in ministration on his scattered flock, and who are even now moved
to tears, in speaking of his virtue and devotion.
But he was soon transfei'red to the New York Literary Institu-
tion, in the conduct of which he was for many years connected with
Father Kohlijian. Very many among the most distinguished citi-
zens of the state and city passed under Father Fenwick's care dur-
ing that time, and all — though not of the same religion — concur in
speaking of him in the same terms of affectioftate regard and esteem.
He was called from New York, in 1817, to be made President of
the college at Georgetown, where he had received his education.
The selection of any man as the head of such an institution cannot
but be held as a high testimonial of the estimation in which the indi-
vidual selected is held. For a college is a kind of little republic, or
kingdom, perhaps. It requires in its head all the qualities of a good
ruler of a state. He must have firmness, to insure order; kindness,
to win affection; honesty, justice, and virtue, to inspire confidence.
And that Fenwick possessed all these attributes, in a high degree,
is proved by the fact that he was twice called upon to assume this
responsible station.
But he was not allowed long to remain in, this position.
The Catholic Chui'ch at Charleston, South Carolina, was then, or
about then, unhappily divided into factions, from the absence'of the
proper authorities for church go\ernment, and from other circum-
538 AECHBISHOP nUGHES.
Btances on which it is not proper to dwell. It is sufficient to remark,
in general, that the history of the Catholic religion here is essentially
different from that which belongs to it in other quarters of the globe.
Catholics, throughout all llie old M'orld, have been first to convert
the human race from Paganism to Christianity ; and in every coun-
try of that world the missionary of religion has himself been its
apostle. Wherever the missionary could obtain a sufficiency of hear-
ers and worshippers, there he lield the church services, and all went
on in that beauty and harmony which are the essential characteris-
tics of our holy faith. But here the case was ■ different. Here the
laity came before the priests and the bishops, and they, in turn, came
after. The faith was brought from other lands by those who were
not in the order of the clergy, though many a monument still re-
mains, here and there, to prove that they were penetrated and im-
bued with the true living faith and hope.
There were evils, however, connected with this state of things.
Difference of opinion must be expected to arise, and where there is
no spiritual superior to settle a disputed question, a comparatively
trifling variance may sometimes ripen into a standing feud. Such,
unhappily, was the case at Charleston. The church was divided,
split into factions which manifested towards each other too muoh of
that bitterness and acrimony wliich are peculiarly apt to characterize
theological disputes. It was necessary to find a remedy for this,
and accordingly the Archbishop of Maryland, the head of the
church in America, cast ai'ound to find some clergyman especially
fitted to bear the olive branch to the contending factions, and recon-
cile them to unanimity and harmony-. It was not far that he looked,
nor long that he hesitated ; for Father Fenwick was soon selected
as being eminently qualified for the successful performance of this
delicate and arduous task. Accordingly, he repaired tc). Charleston,
and it was but a few months — almost a few weeks — before the influ-
ence of his example, his zeal, his prudence, his devotion, had accom-
plished the work. The pious and Christian conduct of Father Fen-
wick, in his pastoral charge, acted like oil poured upon troubled
waters. It smoothed down the ruggedness of faction ; it softened
the asperity of difference; and it converted the church, from a col-
lection of disjointed and discordant fragments, into what a church
ouglit to be, a symmetrical and harmonious whole.
From this honorable but laborious ministry he was relieved by
the coming of Bishop England, and recalled to the Presidency of
Georgetown College, which he again filled for one or two years.
He was then sent to supply the place of the venerable Father Neale,
the late head of a sm.all so ;iety of ladies belonging to the Carmelite
order, in Charles county, Maryland. While fulfilling the duties of
this humble station, pursuing the tenor of his way almost unknown
to the world, and quite out of the sight of his fellow-men, he received
— to his own exceeding astonishment — not only an appointment to
the position he so long held there, but a positive command from the
Supreme Pontiff of Rome, that he should assume its various duties
EULOGY ON BISHOP TENWICK. 539
and responsibilities. At that time the mode of selection for incum-
bents for such elevated stations was different from what it now is,
where a general council of the higher clergy is assembled to designate
and recommend a suitable individual. Then, when the whole church
in this countiy \\-as but a grain of mustard seed in comparison with
what it has since become, such a proceeding was obviously imprac-
ticable. The appointment proceeded directly from the Pope, who
in this case, it is possible or probable, was induced to the selection
of Bishop Fenwick through the recommendation of the lamented
Cardinal Cheverus, whose excellent qualities so endeared him to the
hearts of the people while Bishop of Boston. He had departed from
the diocese, but his former spiritual bride was still dear to his soul,
and it was natural that ho should feel a deep interest in her welfare.
Owing, probably, to that interest it was that Father Fenwick, the
humble and retired priest of an obscure monastery, was ordered to
take charge of this diocese.
It is not necessary to say much of the state of the Church here at
that time. But I would remark, that there was but one church
where now they are numerous ; there were but two clergymen, I
believe, whereas to-day the sanctuary is surrounded by a numerous
body of zealous and able priests. The whole diocese was but a wil-
derness, while now it is full of the signs of prosperity and success.
And though it is true that the increase of the Church has. to a great
extent, come from abroad, yet it is no less true that many, very
mtmy of lier children have been won to her bosom by the influence
of his example and holy devotion.
Looking, then, at the life of Bishop Fenwick from first to last, do
we not find that he has labored in his vocation with a steadiness,
perseverance and constancy worthy of all praise ? We see him,
after entering the priesthood, obedient in all things to his instruc-
tions and his superiors ; seeking not to select his own path, consult-
ing not his own wishes, but compliant to the judgment and direction,
of those above him. Ordered to the South, the land of pestilence
and disease, he, went with an unrepining spirit, and, while there,
ministered the holy truths of our religion alike to the colored and
ignorant servant, and the master, of another hue and of cultivated
mind. Recalled thence, he took with equal willingness .and obedi-
ence the position of President of a college of learning, and the hum-
ble post of spiritual teacher to a small and sequestered society. At
last he vv as sent here to take upon himself the burden of his bishopric,
and you can all bear witness to the earnestness of his zeal and the
fidelity of his labors in that important charge.
And what is the nature and character of such a charge? If St.
Clu-ysostom characterized the relation of the priest to his people as
one of ditjnity, labor, and responsibility — if he be, on earth, not only
an extension but a partner of Christ — if, when imbued with the true
spirit of his calling, he be another Christ^how much more does all this
apply to the Bishop, the shepherd of all the priests as well as of the
people ! . The deceased prelate came to his post in that true spirit,
5t0 AECIIBISIIOP IIUGUES.
and liis labors were perpetual during the twenty-one years that he
bore the burden of episcopacy. And though in society, which he
was so competent to adorn, it might appear that he had no care, you
misconceived greatly if you suppose that there was ever one moment
when he was unconcerned tonching those things which Christ had en-
trusted to him as liis sub-delegate on earth. If you have care for your-
selves, and if your cares .are increased as your families increase ; still
more, if you are called to office over your fellow-men, how can you
imagine that the pastor, the religious teacher, is ever indifferent to
the condition of a single sheep or a single lamb of his flock ? But
instead of a simple priest take the case of the Bishop, the head of
them .all ; him whose whole conduct is ever narrowly scrutinized —
at whom are directed the shafts of reproach, if there be any ground
for it, and not unfrequently of calumny — who sometimes has much
to dread from the imprudence or over-zeal of his inferior teachers —
who knows not when he rises but that the day's mails from all quar-
ters may bring distressing tidings for the Church ; and suppose him,
above all, to be imbued with a deep sense of the holiness of his office
and awful responsibility resting on him ; picture this to yourselves,
and then imagine, if you can, that the mind of such a man can ever
be without care! No, my brethren ! Labor, and pain, and suffer-
ing are the lot of the Bishop ; and this is why St. Thomas, though
he calls it a good thing, calls it also martyrdom. Not a natural, but
a moral martyrdom : an ever-active spiritual solicitude, an anxiety
of the soul none the less real because unsuspected of the world.
There may have been nothing \'ery bold, salient, or striking in the
character of the deceased prelate. But men are too often, apt to be ,
mistaken through signs or semblance, where there is no reality.
They are misled by fame, that false and empty sound. But if we
look for God's estimate of character, we shall not find it made up
from human fame. And do we find in .the history of the Church that
the earliest and ablest teachers of God's word bad anything wild,
dazzling, or extraordinavy about tliem. ? No. Quietness and stead-
iness were their attributes. They sought not to attract the eyes of
one or another by startling display, but walked in their appointed
path, shedding abroad a spirit of fecundity and blessing, even as the
silent dew descends from heaven to fertilize the earth. So was it
with Bishop Fenwick. In prudence, he excelled. Patience was not
difficult for him to practice, for patience was natural to his soul.
Kindness, mercy, tenderness towards every species of human suffer-
ing— these were qu.alities which eminently distinguished him. To
labor so porseveringly in the execution of an original purpose ; to
suffer, and that constantly (if it be suffering in giving up one's own
will, with the liability to have one's motives misconceived and actions
misrepresented; to be accused of tyranny if acting with energy, and
of indifference and apathy if not) for forty years of his life — never
flagging, but constant in the way not of his own choosing, but
accoi'ding as the will of God directed — if all this can constitute
greatness, who can deny tliat, according to all Christianity and
EULOGY OX Bisnor fknwick. 541
true estimate, Bishop Fenwick deserves to be ranked amono- the
great. °
It is unnecessary, in the presence of his former colleagues, to say
■what is the opinion of the judgment and prudent conduct of him,
who, \yhilst alive, perhaps was not suflioiently esteemed.
I might refer to some of the circumstances which attended his
ministry here, and especially to that trial which to him was indeed a
sword of sorrow, piercing the soul. A delicate and interesting leg
acy had. been left to him by his predecessor ; it was, as you know,
a little society of religious females, who passed their days in the
worship of God, and the instruction of a small number of the youth-
ful of their own sex. Over that house he watched with earnest care,
and was not denied the consolation of seeing it flourish as a beautiful
bud, shedding its sweetness and perfume around. Under the mild
and gentle influence of his counsels and his teachings, the youthful
tenants of those walls grew up with joyous hearts, for innocence was
there, and wherefore should joy be absent? The summer sun
passed over that house and sunk in the west, looking down on an
abode of happiness and peace. He rose next morning to behold it
but a heap of blackened and smouldering ruins.
We read of the shepherds being taken and the flock destroyed.
Here the flock was dispersed, but the shepherd had not escaped.
yo one can imagine the agony of his heart. But I appeal to your-
relves if he ever, even for an instant, manifested the least want of
Christian charity — if lie did not, on the contrary, always display a
patience, under long sufiering, peculiarly his own ? He was not a
man of restricted information; he knew the history and sjiirit of his
race, and the depths of the human heart; he knew that not only
here, but even more elsewhere, it was impossible to wholly eradicate
from the minds of the populace prejudice and passion and injustice;
and that when their baser feelings were stirred and their hatred
stimulated into action, it was futile to attempt to stay tliem in their
violence. He knew all this, and while he bitterly deplored the deed
of the basest and vilest, portion of the people, he dreamt not of
throwing odium on the better classes. He lamented the deed as
a dishonor and disgrace to the country which he loved as his own,
but he was the flrst to record, and with unfeigned admiration, the
many testimonials of sympathy and regard he received from the
noble and public-spirited citizens of Boston — a jjortion of whom
came forward with princely liberality to tender their assistance.
They ofiered to rebuild the convent at once. If possible, they
would efface every vestige of the violence of that infuriated rabble
even before the tidings could reach beyond the limits of the State.
He declined these noble offers, and there are those who thought
lie did wrong. They thought he should have accepted what was so
promptly and. generously tendered — that it was due to this better
class of the citizens to give them the opportunity they desired of
wiping out at once the stain upon the honor of their city. But
Bishop Fenwick was an American — not a stranger in the land. He
542 AECHBISIIOP HUGHES.
understood his rights and the duties of his country, and he believed
he ought not to accept from private charity and benevolence what,
in common justice, it was the country's duty to afford him. For
that justice he asked, but alas ! it was not measured out to him.
Twelve times has the sun gone round, and twelve times did that
wound in his heart open and bleed afresh, till at last, on the anni-
versary of the day of the destruction, that heart ceased to beat forever.
It is not our province now to say whether his course on that occa-
sion was expedient or inexpedient. He acted from principle, and to
that principle he adhered. There was no wavering of purpose — no
vacillation in intent. Long has reparation of the wrong been de-
nied, yet none can say they ever heard from the Bishop's lips a word
of denunciation, unworthy of the Christian and the prelate, of those
who have constituted the hindrance to his hopes. For the sponta-
neous sympathy and generous proffers of assistance he received he
had praises ; for the country's tardiness to do him justice he had no
reproach, but simply said he would wait for better times, when the
hearts of his enemies should be softened and their eyes opened to the
right.
I need not say how Bishop Fenwick's character endeared him to
his ijeople. His kindness in authority, his delicacy in the hour of
agony made a deep impression on the hearts of all connected with
him, while the grief of his sorrowing and afflicted flock speaks for
itself of the attachment he inspired and the impression his virtues
have made.
But I can dwell no longer on this topic. He who for forty years
has labored in the service of his Master — who for forty years, like
that Master, has done not' his own will but the will of Him that sent
him — whose thoughts by day and by night have been consecrated to
the spiritual well-being of the flocks committed to his charge — w^hose
heart has been the repository of the afflictions, and whose sympar
thy the source of consoLation in the soj'rows of all his people — he
has passed away ! The ofticer has gone, but not the oflice — for that
always remains, and its duties are now performed by one of his own
selection, a candlestick which he himself placed upon the altar. He
has departed — but not until he had surrounded himself with a nu-
merous body of pious and devoted clergy, whose warm affection for
him is his brightest monument. He was their father, but also their
equal. To them he was as an elder brothei- — their counsellor, their
example. And I may appeal to all of them to say if there was ever
one instance when, in sorrow and affliction, they had recourse to the
kind, enlightened and discreet tenderness of their Bishop, without
being met, on his part, in the spirit of Christian hoHness and broth-
erly love.
His sickness was another labor. It was painful and distressing.
It was announced to him beforehand that he could not survive — and
he, the man tiiat for forty years had known no glory but that of his
Master, and given himself to no work but that of God, that man —
notwithstanding his humility, if that humility would permit — could
EULOGY OX BISHOP FENWICK. 543
look bact tlirough all his course in life, and say with the Apostle,
" I have fought the good fight ; I have kept the faith." In a word,
from the moment when first he consecrated himself to God, to the
latest breath of his life, we find in him but one continuous act — the
making himself a victim in the cause of the Lord.
Such was_ the life of Bishop Fenwiok. And if, as I have said, a
pure, and higii, and holy motive, combined with constant labor and
the endurance of all suffering, constitute greatness, then was ho
great indeed. Even in his humility he was great. His memory, as
a Prince of the Church, is great. The influence of his example is
great. And not only was he great in life, but he is, and will forever
be great, because there is a continuity in the works of God, and
goodness and greatness will last through eternity. We can little
conceive the true measure of such greatness, unless we can lift our-
selves above the low standard tif life and the groveling propensities
which beset us in the world, and seek to attain the high and pure
atmosphere of heaven.
Your late Bishop's end was in accordance with the whole tenor
of his life. He did not escape much suffering, but it was softened
by the attention and sympathy of many, eager to mitigate his pangs.
And in this connection I ought not to omit to mention the kindness of
the authorities and citizens of the town, who took every means to
spare him from annoyance during his last hours. I am sure they
have the hearty thanks of all his people. In all his sufi['ering, not
one word of murmur and complaint escaped his lips. God, as a
reward for such a life, preserved his senses clear, and his mind un-
clouded to the end, and his last words were a fervent prayer to
Jesus to receive his spirit.
He sleeps'beneath the monument he himself had raised, though he
dreamt not it would be for him. Every day a shadow from its
top is cast by the sun of heaven upon the bed of his slumber, and
every day the pupils whom he taught and whom he loved, breathe
over his remains a prayer. When they kneel before their God,
they offer a petition for the repose of his spirit, believing and know-
ing that he is praying for and watching over them and all of us.
His brows are now encircled by the orown-of glory which Christ,
the chief of Bishops, has prepared for those who with him are ,to
reign for evGr and ever. Let us, my beloved brethren, endeavor so
to live that y/e may make our calling and election sure, that we may
join with him who has gone before, in eternal praise before the
throne of God.
544 AECHBISIIOr HUGHES.
A LECTURE ON THE ANTECEDENT CAUSES OP
THE IRISH FAMINE IN 1847.
DELIVERED UI-:DER THE AUSPICES OF THE GENERAL COJ[MITTEE
FOR THE RELIEF OF THE SUFFERING POOR OF IRELAND, BY THE
4RIGIIT REV. JOHN HUGHES, D. D., BISHOP OF NEW YORK, AT THE
BROADWAY TABERNACLE, MARCH 20, 1817.
The jea,v 184'? will be rendered memorable in the. future annals
of civilization, by two events; the one immediately isreceding and
giving occasion to the other ; namely, Irish famine, and American
sympathy and succor. Sympathy has, in its own right, a singular
power of soothing the moral sufferings of the forlorn and unfor-
tunate. There is no heart so flinty, jjut that, if you npjiroach it with
kindness, touch it gently with the magic wand of true sympathy, it
will be melted, like the rock of the wilderness, and tears of gratitude
on the cheeks of the sufierer will be the prompt and natural response
to those of interest, of pity, of affection, which, in imagination, he
will have discovered on yours. Who will say that Ireland is not an
unfortunate sufferer? But since her sufferings have become known
to other and happier nations, who will say that she is forlorn ? Amer-
ica offers her, not a sympathy of mere sentiment and feeling, but
that substantial sympathy which her condition requires. When the
first news of your benevolence, and of your efforts, shall have been
wafted across the ocean, it will sound as sweetly in her agonized ear
as the voice of angels whispering hope. It will cause her famine-
shrnnken heart to expand again to its native fullness, whilst from
day to day the western breezes will couvej^ to her echoes of the
rising song, tlio swelling chorus, the universal outburst, in short, of
American sympathy. The bread with which your ships are freighted
will arrive too late for many a suffering child of hers ; but the news
that it is coming will perchance reach the peasant's cabin, in the final
hour of his mortal agon}'. Unable to speak, gratitude will wreath,
in feeble smile, for the last time, his pinched and palid countenance^
It is the smile of hope, as well as of gratitude ; hope, not for him-
self, it comes too late for that, but for his pale wife and famished
little ones. He will recline his head more calmly ; he will die with
yet more subdued resignation ; having discovered, at the close of his
life, -that truth, which the whole training and experience of his hard
lot in this world had almost taught him to deny, namely, that there
is humanity in mankind, and tliat its blessings are about to reach
even his cabin, from a quarter on which he had no other claim than
that of his misfortune.
Bui; I have not come here to enlarge upon the feelings of sympathy
that have been arouseil in our own bosoms, nor yet on those of grat-
iiude that will soon be awakened in the breasts of the Irish people.
I conic, not to describe the inconceivable horrors of a calamity which,
in the midst of the Xineteenth Century, eighteen hundred and forty-
LECTUEE ON THE IRISH PAMilNE. 545
seven years after the coming of Christ, either by want or pestilence, or
both combined, threatens almost the annihilation of a whole Christian
people. The newspapers tell us that this calamity has been pro-
duced by the failure of the potato crop ; but this ought not to be a
sufficient cause of so frightful a consequence ; the potato is but one
species of the endless varieties of food which the Almighty has pro-
vide(i for the sustenance of his creatures ; and why is it that the life
or death of the great body of any nation should be so little regarded
as to be left dependent on the capricious growth of a single root ?
Many essays will be published ; many eloquent speeches pronounced ;
much precious time improfitably employed, by the State economists
of Great Britain, assigning the cause or causes of the scourge which
now threatens to depopulate Ireland. I shall not enter into the im-
mediately antecedent circumstances or influences that have produced
this result. Some will say .that it is the cruelty of unfeeling and
rapacious landlords ; others will have it, that it is the improvident
and indolent character of the people themselves ; others, still, will
say that it is owing to the poverty of the country, the want of cap-
ital, the general ignorance of the people, and especially their igno-
rance in reference to the improved science of agriculture. I shall
not question the truth or the fallacy of any of these theories ; admit-
ting them all, if you will, to contain each more or less of truth, they
yet do not explain the famine which they are cited to account for.
They are themselves to be accounted for, rather as the effect of other
causes, than as the real causes of effects, such as we now witness
and deplore ; for in the moral, social, political, and commercial, as
well as in the mere outward physical world, there is a certain and
necessary connection between cause and effect, i-eachirig from end to
end, through the whole mysterious web of human occurrences. So
that, in the history of man, from the origin of the world, especially
in his social condition, no active thought, that is, no thought which
has ever been brought out into action or external manifestation, is or
can be isolated or severed from its connection with that intricate,
universal, albeit mysterious, chain of causes and of consequences to
which it is, as it ever has been, the occupation of mankind to add
new links every year and every day.
If the attempt, then, be not considered too bold, I shall endeavor
to lay before you a brief outline of the primary, original causes which,
by the action and re-actiOn of secondary and intermediate agencies,
have produced the rapacity of landlords, the poverty of the country,
the imputed want of industry among, its people, and the other causes
to which the present calamity will be ascribed by British statesmen.
I shall designate these causes by three titles: first, incompleteness
of conquest ; second, bad government ; third, a defective or vicious
system of social economy. Allow me, first, to say a word of the
country itself.
Ireland, as you know, is not larger in its geographical extent than
two-thirds of the State of New York. An island on the western
borders of Europe ; its bold coast is indented with capacious bays and
35
646 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
safest harl)ors. For its size it has many large and navigable rivers :
and it is said that no part of the island is more than fifty miles from
tide- water. Its climate is salubrious, although humid with the healthy
vapors of the Atlantic ; its hills (like its history) are canopied, for
the most part, with clouds ; its sunshine is more rare, but, for that
very reason, if for no other, farjnore smiling and beautiful than ever
beamed from Italian skies. Its mountains are numerous and lofty;
its green valleys fertile as the plains of Egypt, enriched by the over-
flowings of the Nile. There is no country on the globe that yields
a larger average of the substantial things that God has provided for
the support and sustenance of human life. And yet there it is that
man has found himself for generations in squalid misery, in tattered
garments, often, as at present, haggard and emaciated With hunger ;
his social state a contrast and an eye-sore in the midst of the beauty
and riches of nature that smile upon him, as if in cruel mockery of
his unfortunate and exceptional condition.
The invasion of Ireland took place toward the close of the Twelfth
Century, under the Anglo-Norman king, Henry II. An Irish chief-
tain had been expelled from his country by the virtuous indignation
which a flagrant act of immorality had aroused against him, in the
midst of his countrymen and of his own subjects, lie had recourse to
the British monarch ; the king merely gave him letters-patent, au-
thorizing such adventurers as were so disposed to aid him in recov-
ering his estates. Such adventurers were not wanting. They em-
barked and landed under the banner of invasion upheld by the crim-
inal hand of an Irish traitor. They succeeded in effecting a partial
conquest. The native population were driven out of that portion of
the country which stretches along the east and southeastern coast,
which afterwards became known in history as the English Pale.
This portion of the kingdom, less than one-third, may be consid-
ered as having been really conquered by the adventurers ; but the
rest of the island continued as before, under its ancient princes and
proprietors ; some of them having simply recognized the monarch
of England as their superior loud, by agreeing to pay. a mere nomi-
nal tribute. Here is the real point in history, at which the fountain
of Ireland's perennial calamities is to be placed. Many a tributary
streamlet of bitterness came afterward to swell the volume of Its
poisoned waters ; but this is the fountain which supplied and gave
its directicfti to the cui-rent. The king displayed, when he visited
Ireland, an authentic or a forged document from the Pope, author-
izing the invasion. There is no evidence, however, except what
rested on the royal testimony, that such' a document had been
granted ; but, whether or not, it had no more effect in the success
of the invasion than if it had been so much blank parchment. The
success of the invasion was due, on the one side, to the superior skill
of the adventurers, guided, if not led on by an Irish chief; and, on
the other side, was owing to immemorial, and apparently intermina-
ble, divisions among the Irish leaders themselves. ■ They prosecuted
Iheir own private piques against each other, as I fear they would do
LECTURE ON THJ3 IRISH FAMINB. 547
again, no matter how formidable the common enemy of the common
weal that might be thundering at their gates. If the invaders had
prosecuted the contest to a final issue, that issue might possibly
have united them for once ; but the English, whether from weak-
ness or from policy, were satisfied with what had been already
achieved.
The conquest was thus cut short, almost at the opening of the
book ; and the calamities that have resulted to Ireland, from that
time until our own days, are but so many supplements, many of
them bloody ones, to complete the volume. The invaders were
pleased to consider themseUes as having conquered the Irish nation ;
and as having acquired the right of supreme dominion over the Irish
soil. The king divided the lands of the whole kingdom into ten
sections, or regions, and bestowed them upon as many of his princi-
pal followers. Having flung this apple of discord between the old
and new race of the Irish people, he sailed back to England — had
the emerald gem of Erin's sovereignty set among the jewels of his
crown — and called himself Lord of Ireland. The consequence of
his distribution was, from this time, that every portion of the Irish
soil, every estate, had two sets of owners ; the one, owner by jus-
tice, hereditary title, and immemorial possession ; the other, owner
by assumed right of conquest, and the sign manual of Henry II. If
Henry had conquered the country, he might have made these grants
a reality; but as it was, they were simply as royal letters-patent,
authorizing the iniquities and disorders of all kinds which make up
the history of the relations between the Irish people and what was
called the English Pale.
The in\aders regard the natives as illegal occupiers of' the soil —
as barbarians, who stood between them and the peaceful possession
of their property. The attempt to dispossess the native population,
however, by force, would have been a dangerous experiment; and
it makes one shudder to see the persevering ingenuity with which
the aid of inhuman legislation was invoked, with which laws for the
protection of cruelty and treachery of every description were enacted,
to accomplish by piecemeal and by fraud the complete conquest
which they were too feeble or too politic to refer, once for all, to the
more humane decision of the battle-field.
If we look at the legislation of the Pale, for the entire period of
four hundred years, we shall find the tone of ..its enacttaents to be
always in harmony with this purpose— laws against intermarriages
with" the natives; laws against their language; laws against their
manners and customs ; and even laws making it criminal for a liege-
man of Englan4 to allow an Irish horse to graze on his pasture. In
the minds of the invaders, in the acts of Parliament, in royal procla-
mations, during all those centuries down to the reign of' Queen
Elizabeth, the natives are designated as aliens and Irish enemies.
No part of the soil of their country was recognized as theirs. They
were denied all share in the benefits of English laws ; the iniquities
of the royal grant, supported by the iniquities of legislation, made
548 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
it lawful for the invaders to kill or rob " the mere Irish," as the acci-
dents of opportunity, or the caprice of expediency might direct. If
any of the natives appealed to the law for redress, it was enough for
the defendant to prove that the would-be plaintiff was a mere Irish-
man, and did not belong to any of the five families to whom the pro-
tection of the British laws had been, by special favor, extended.
This plea arrested all further proceedings in the court. Frequently,
during this long interval, had the natives petitioned and implored to
be admitted into the Pale, and under the protection of the laws ;
but as often was their petition rejected. On the other hand, their
own sovereignty was paralyzed and rendered impotent by the inva-
sion, and the disorders which resulted from its incompleteness.
They were broken up and divided, so that they were deprived of all
opportunity for social or physical improvement, by any legislative
organization of their own. This sketch conveys a faint idea of the
condition of Ireland during nearly four hundred years after the inva-
sion. The English Pale, meantime, instead of enlarging its boun-
daries, had often been obliged to curtail them ; and as late as the
reign of Henry VIII. it was restricted to only four counties, out of
the whole kingdom. Enough has been said, I think, to illustrate the
principle with which I set out, that to assume the fiction of a con-
quest ; to accomplish it by halves ; to leave it incomplete ; to repair
its deficiency — which must he repaired by other means, which must
be fraudulent — is the most cruel policy, as well as the most injurious
to both, that a strong nation can employ in the subjugation of a
weak one. If it must be done at all, it will be mercy to do it thor-
oughly ; so that the sword shall have determined, to the conviction
of all parties, the reality of the new relations that have sprung up
by its decision between the conquerors and the conquered. The bad
policy of the incomplete conquest of Ireland had to be repaired, or
rather completed, in the Sixteenth Century, by commencing the work
anew ; for it was only under Queen Elizabeth, who was no half-way
ruler, but who — whatever else she may have been— was, I had
almost said, a king every inch of her, that Ireland was finally crushed,
if not conquered.
It would have been, however, too humiliating to British sov-
ereignty to supply the original defect, under the original name of
conquest. It was, therefore, now tO be accomplished under the title
and form 'of "reducing insubcrdinate and rebellious subjects;"
although it required the help of a strong legal fiction to regard as
rebels those who had hitherto been repulsed from the protection of
the law. But even this reduction could not be accomplished, it
seems, without cruelties, for which the annals of. mankind, in the
most barbarous ages of the world, furnish no parallel. It is a sin-
gular coincidence, and full of admonitions, that, in this second con-
quest, British statesmen recommended^and military officers em-
ployed— and lords deputies approved of famine as their most effect-
ual instrument and ally in the work of subjugation. The occupation
of the troops from year to year was to pre\ent the cultivation of the
LECTURE ON THE IRISH FAMINE. 549
land, to destroy the growing crops already planted — for " famine,"
says the English historian who records the fact, "was judged the
speediest and most effectual way of reducing the Irish." The con-
sequences were, that whole provinces were left desolate, without an
inhabitant, except in the towns and villages ; that those whose mis-
fortune permitted them to escape the sword, sometimes offered
themselves, their wives and children, to be slain by the army, rather
than wait for that slow, horrid death of famine and starvation, which
had been reserved for them ; for we can all conceive that, compared
with the deliberate use of this instrument of war, against a rural and
scattered agricultural population, the Indian's tomahawk becomes a
symbol of humanity. ' Meantime, the old chieftains of clans, the
owners of the soil, the leaders of the people, the " great rebels," as
they were called, were becoming fewer and fewer. Some perished
on the battlefield : they were the most fortunate. Others gave
themselves up, on the word of honor and protection, and were then
impeached and executed. Some were slain at the festive board of
the invading commander, whose invitation to the banquet they had
accepted, thinking foolishly that the laws of truce and hospitality
made all their rights not only secure, but even sacred, under the tent.
of a true soldier; and thus, in few years, the Irish aliens, the Irish
enemies, or the Irish rebels, if you will,\were indeed reduced ; and
now there was a prospect of the invaders being permitted to enter
into peaceable possession of those estates. which, by right of con-
quest, as (heij understood it, had been theirs from the first invasion.
Elizabeth proposed to colonize the whole province of Ulster with
English settlers, but she did not live to accomplish her 'project.
The plantation of Ulster remained to be carried into efiect by her
successor, James I. He secured to himself a new and better title ;
he confiscated to the ei-own six entire counties of Ulster, in one day ;
and parcelled them out, chiefly among his Scotch, rather than his
English, friends — the native, the hereditary population having been, ^
of course, sent adrift. The king and his ministers congratulated
themselves, and compared this act of his Majesty to the conduct of
a wise and thrifty husbandman, who transplants his trees according
to the soil in which they will grow best.. After James came Charles
I. and the civil wars in England. Wh^n other resources failed the
monarch, the fragments of property, real and personal,.that still re-
mained to the Irish people, were strained into the supply of his
empty coffers. He obtained from them, by royal promise, £120,000
sterhng, for what was called "Graces ;" the principal of which was,
what every American inherits by birthright — libel-ty of conscience.
He pocketed the money, but I am sorry to say he refused the
" Graces." His deputy in Ireland projected and carried out a sys-
tem for the confiscation, in detail, of private estates, under a "Com-
mission " for inquiry into defective titles. The jury that refused to
find a verdict for the crown, under this system, was punished and
ruined; and as to the judges, the Lord Deputy writes to his royal
master that he had got them to attend to this business, as if it were
550 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
their own personal afiair, by promising four shillings in the pound
to the judge who presided at the trial, out of the first year's income
from all confiscated estates. Under the Commonwealth, Ireland is
the scene of new exterminations — new confiscations — new foreign
settlers, amidst the wrecks and ruins of the native population. On
the Restoration, the loyalists of England and Scotland were re-
instated in their rights ; but in Ireland the loyalists -were abandoned
by the crown, and the followers of Cromwell confirmed in their pos-
sessions. Nay, James II. came in on the title of a Cromwellian, and
appropriated to himself, in one instance, no less than from 70,000 to
100,000 acres that had been confiscated by Cromwell to punish the
fidelity of its rightful owners for adhering to the cause of that mis-
erable James's unfortunate father. Finally, that country, which had
been conquered so often, submitted at last to William III., successor
to James on the English throne — submitted, but still not to the
sword of a conqueror, but to the faith of a king, stamped on a writ-
ten instrument, mutually agreed upon by him and the last represent-
ative of nnconquered Ireland, called the " Treaty of Limerick." But
every article of it, autograph, royal seal and all was repudiated the
moment it was safe to do so.
The enactment of the entire penal code, soon afterwards, is evi-
dence of the entire and deliberate violation of all the articles of the
Treaty of Limerick. By that code, the inhabitants of Ireland "were
again divided into two classes ; the one consisting of those whose
conscience would allow them to take the State oath, on the subj^gct
of religion : to them high privileges were secured. But penalties
were enacted against those who could not, or would not, swear that
oath. The great overwhelming majority of the Irish people refused
the test ; and the penal law came quickly to punish them, even in
their family relations and domestic circle. It invested any child,
who might conform to the test prescribed, with the rights of prop-
erty enjoyed by his father. It invested the wife with rights of
property oxer the husband. If any of those who had refused to
swear purchased an estate for any amount of money, any of the
others who had taken the oath, could dispossess him, without paying
one shilling for such estate. If any of the former class owned a
horse worth fifty or one hundred pounds, any of the latter class had
a right, by law, to tender five pounds, and tell him to dismount.
If any of the former class, by his skill and industry in agriculture
raised the value of his land so as to yield a profit equal to one-third
of the rent, any of the latter could enter on the profits of his labor,
and take possession of his land. These laws continued for between
eighty and ninety years down to the period of American Indepen-
dence. And in this enactment we see what a penalty was inflicted
on the agricultural industry of the Irish — what a premium was held*
out to encourage that indolence which British statesmen now impu-
dently complain of.
The same system has been continued to the present day : as if
some cruel law 6f destmy had determined that the Irish people
LECTUKE ON THE IRISH FAHIXE. 551
should be kept at the starving point through all times ; since the
landlord, even now, claims the right, and often uses it, of punishing
the industry of his tenant, by increasing the rent in proportion to
the improvement the tenant makes on his holding. If, then, it be
true that the Irish are indolent, which I deny, the cause could be
sufficiently explained by the penalties which a bad Government
has inflicted upon them, in their own country, for the crime of being
industrious. Then, if it be said, as a reproach, that the Irish are
ignorant, let it be remembered that this same code of penal laws
closed up the schools of popular education ; that the schoolmaster
was banished for the crime of teaching, and if he returned he was
liable to be treated as a felon. If ignorance of the people, then, be
the cause of the famine, enough has been said to point out the cause
of the ignorance itself.
The melancholy training of so long a period of oppression served
to bring out, in the shades of adversity, virtues which perhaps
would not have bloomed or borne fruit in the summer atmosphere
of national prosperity. Filial reverence, domestic aifections, always
congenial to the Irish heart, had here ample opportunity of proving
themselves, and were never found wanting. The law put it in the
power of any son, by declaring himself a Protestant, to enter imme-
diately upon the rights of property enjoyed by his father and his
family ; but no son of Irish parents was ever known to have availed
himself of the law. As a matter of expediency, it was customary
for the Catholic proprietor, for the protection of his property, to vest
the legal title in some Protestant neighbor ; and, again, it is consol-
ing to know that, notwithstanding the temptations presented by
these iniquitous laws, there is no instance of that private confidence
having been violated. These laws originated at the close of the
Seventeenth Century, and continued in force until two years after
a British general, Burgoyne, turned the point of his sword to his
own breast, and presented the hilt to the hand of his conqueror,
after the battle of Saratoga. Then came the only brief, bright pe-
riod of Irish history — the period of her volunteers, of her statesmen
and orators — -her illustrious Grattan rousing the patriotism of his
country, and emancipating her long enslaved Parliament; the pe-
riod of her Bushe, her Flood, her Curran, and the other great names
that have made Irish eloquence as immortal as the Anglo-Saxon
tongue. But the sun of her brief day soon declined and set, shrouded
in clouds of blood, for it closed by the banishment or martyrdom of
her patriots — her noble-hearted Emmets and Fitzgeralds. It was
brought to an end by a new policy, conducted in the old spirit. A
rebellion had been deliberately fomented by the agents of a foreign
Government, until it reached the desired point of precocious ripe-
ness, and then it was crushed with promptness and with cruelty.
Martial law for the people, gdld for the senate — a bayonet for the
patriot who loved Ireland, and a bribe for the traitor who did not,
led to the act called the Union, in which the charter of Irish nation-
ality was destroyed, but I trust not forever.
552 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
The rest you are all acquainted with ; it has oceurre.i in our day,
and within our memory. It will be manifest, from what has been
said, that the causes which have prevented the prosperity of Ireland,
the development of her material resources, the cultivation of her
mind, have existed fi-om an early date ; and, under one form or an-
other, have been in perpetual activity. She has hardly been permit-
ted to enjoy repose sufficient even for a fair experiment of improve-
ment. During the first four hundred years after the invasion, her
people were outlawed because they were mere Irish. Afterwards,
when the English laws were extended to her, in 1610, her people
were again outlawed or worse, not now because they were Irish, but
because they were Catholics. By adhering to their old religion,
their rulers supposed them to have shipwrecked their hopes of hap-
piness in another world, which would have been misfortune enough,
without inflicting punishments for their mistake so well calculated
to destroy their prosperity here. At the commencement of these
changes, the law required them to attend the Church and service of
the State religion : if they attended, they did not understand a syl-
lable of that service, which was conducted in the English language ;
if they did not attend, their property was seized by fines for their ''
non-attendance, £20 a Sunday. Then, either by grants or confisca-
tions, under Charles I., to whose cause they were loyal, their prop-
erty was still diminished. Under Cromwell, they were punished
and plundered both as idolaters, and because they had been faithful
to their king. Under the Restoration, all preceding iniquities as re-
garded the ownership of property were^confirmed. Under William
III. and his successors, the penal laws were applied in the same way,
not to the body politic at large, but with an ingenuity of detail, to
every joint, and sinew, and muscle, as if the object were to paralyze
all effort at national amelioration. Just in proportion as the strug-
gle of these colonies for independence was successful, in that propor-
tion did the policy of the British Government relax the pressure of
this weighty bondage of the Irish people.
We sometimes hear comparisons instituted between the prosperity,
industry, and moral, or, at 15ast, intellectual condition of the Scotch,
and the poverty of all kinds of the Irish ; and the conclusion is gen-
erally adverse to the latter, either on the score of national character
or of religion. Some even assert th.it the Catholic religion is in
reality the cau^e of the poverty and degradation of Ireland. I have
said enough to show that it has been at least an occasion ; but I am
willing to go farther, and admit that in one sense it has been a cause
also ; for I have no hesitation in saying that if the Irish, by any
chance, had been Presbyterians, they would have, from an early day,
obtained protection for their natural rights, or they would have
driven their oppressors into the sea. The Scotch escaped nearly all
the calamities I have described ; they were never conquered ; their
soil was never taken from beneath their feet ; they merged them-
selves spontaneously, at their own time and on their own terms, into
the State of England. They kept, also, the property of their old
XECTUKE ON THE IRISH FAMINE. 553
religion fortheiV own social and religious use. Already, before the
change, parish schools were established in Scotland ; after the change
these were multiplied, improved and endowed, out of the old church
property. But in Ireland, everything was the reverse ; church build-
ings, monasteries, glebes,. tithes, from year to year, all went by the
board ; all were subtracted from the aggregate of the national wealth.
And even in modern times, we i-ead of incumbents appointed to eccle-
siastical livings, entering on their cure, or rather sinecure, penniless,
and after .1 few years, by the probate of their own wills, leaving to
Ijheir foreign heirs, in some instances, as much as three and four hun-
dred thousand pounds, sterling.
I have ventured to suggest a defective or vicious system of social
and political economy as the other great cause of Ireland's pecu-
liarly depressed condition. By social economy I mean that effort
of society, organized into a sovereign State, to accomplish the wel-
fare of all its members. The welfare of its members is the end of its
existence— Salus popuU siiprema lex. It would be a reproach, to say
tjiat Christianity conceived a meaner or lower idea of its obligation.
This id6a, it may not, perhaps, "be possible to realize fully in practice
under any system ; but it should never be lost sight of. The sys-
tem which now prevails has lost sight of it, to a great extent. It is
called the free system — ^the system of competition — the system of
making the wants of mankind a regulator for their supplies.
It had its origin in the transition of society from that state of
mitigated slavery which was called feudalism and serfage, as they
prevailed in England. As rtigards the mere physical position, food,
clothing, lodging, of the entire people of England, there is no doubt
that the old system provided better for it than the present one.
The old Barons never allowed their serfs to die of a hunger which
they were not willing to share. As the latter emerged from serf-
dom, and before they were able to take their ranks with advantage,
in a more honorable sphere of free labor, the Church property, with
its great means, constituted a providence of protection for this
class. When the Church property was distributed among the
nobles of England this resource , failed, and then it was that Poor
Laws were enacted, and taxes began to be levied by the State,
from the poor, for the support of the pauper. Until then, the ag-
gregate wealth, of the English people, taking them altogether as
members of one ^tate, was greater than it ever has "been since, or
' so far as we can see, is likely ever to be again. There were not
indeed, those colossal individual fortunes which now exist, but
neither were there, on the other hand, those abysses of physical
and moral destitution, which are now yawning on every side for
the new victims, whom the pressure of the present system is_ push-
ing,- every day, nearer and nearer to their fatal brink. By this sys-
tem England has, I admit, become the richest country on the globe ;
but riches are by no means synonymous with prosperity,_ when we
speak of the social condition of a whole people. And this system,
though :t may work well, even for national prosperity, in certain
554 AllCHBISHOP HUGHES.
given times and circumstances, yet carries within it, in the pahniest
days of its siKicess, a principle of disease, which acts first on the
lower extremities of the social body, and with the lapse of time
will make itself felt at the very heart and seat of life. It is an appall-
ing reflection that out of the active and productive industry of Great
Britarn and Ireland, provision must be made for the support of
between four and five millions of paupers. This number will be
increased by every depressing crisis in commerce and in trade ; by
every blight of "sterility which Providence permits to fall on the
fields of the husbandman ; and the experiment of Sir Robert Peelj
in imposing on the wealthy an income tax, may be regarded as a
premonitory warning that, although the time may not yet have ar-
rived, it is approaching, and perliaps, at no very remote distance,
Avhen the mountains of individual wealth in England shall be made
comparatively low, and the valleys of pauperism will be partially
filled up. I am aware that in speaking on this subject I shall go, as
it were, in opposition to the almost universal sentiment of this age,
but for the expression of my opinion I will oflTer you this apology,
that provided you do me the honor to hear, I will not ask you to
coincide in so much as one of the conclusions at which my mind
has arrived in regard to it.
I know that no living man is accountable for the system of which
I am about to complain ; it is older than we are, it is the invisible
but all-pervading divinity of the Fiscal, the unseen ruler of the tem-
poral affairs of this world. Kings and Emperors are but its prime
ministers, premiers and parliaments .but its seryants in livery;
money is the symbol of its worship, we are all its slaves, without
any power to emancipate ourselves ; the dead and dying in Ireland
are its victims.
It will not be disputed, I presume, that the present system of
social and political economy resolves itself, when analyzed, into a
primary element of pure selfishness. The principle that acts, the
main-spring that sets all its vast and intricate machinery in motion is
self-interest ; whether that interest assume a national form in the
commercial rivalship of States, or an individual form in the pursuit,
the industrj', and enterprise of private persons. The conqueror,
indeed, carries off great spoils from the contest ; but his enjoyment
of them would be disturbed if he could only hear the cries of the
wounded and the dying who have fallen in the battle.
The true system, in my opinion, would regard the general inter-
est first, as wholly paramount, and have faith enough to believe
that individual interest would, in the long run, be best pi'omoted by
allowing it all possible scope for enterprise and activity within the
general limits. Then individual welfare would be the result, and not
the antecedent, as it is when the order is reversed. The assumption
of our system is, that the healthy antagonisms of this self-interest,
which, as applied to the working classes, its advocates sometimes
designate pompously, " the sturdy self reliance of an operative,"
will result finally in the general good. I am -willing to odmit, that
LECTURE ON THE IRISH FAMINE. 555
in the fallen condition of human nature, self-interest is the most
powerful principle of our being, giving impulse and activity to all
our individual undertakings, and in that way, to the general opera-
tions of life. But unfortunately this system leaves us at liberty to
forget the interest of others. The fault which I impute to it, how-
ever, is that it values wealth too much, and man too little ; that it
does not take a large comprehensive view of self-interest ; that it does
not embrace within its protecting sphere the whole entire people,
weak and strong, rich and poor, and see, as its 'first and primary
care, that no member of the social body, no man shall be allowed
to suifer or perish from want, except by the agency of his own
crime. The fault that I find with it is, that in countries of limited
territorial surface and dense population, by a necessary process it
works down a part of the community, struggling with all their
might to keep up, into a condition not merely of poverty, but of
destitution ; and then treats that poverty, which itself had created,
as a guilt and an infamy. The fault that I find with it is, that
whilst it allows, and properly so, competition to be the life of trade,
it allows it also to be oftentimes, the death of the trader. The
premier of England is reported to have said not long since, " that
nothing prevented him from employing government vessels to car-
ry bread to a starving people, except his unwillingness to disturb
the current of trade." Never was oracle of a hidden and a heart-
less deity uttered more faithfully, or more in accordance with the
worship of its votaries, than in the language here imputed to the
British minister, who may be fairly regarded as the living high
priest of political economy. To put public vessels in competition
with merchantmen, in the low business of mere trade, would indeed
have been wrong and unworthy of the great ruler ; but if the
profits of trade had been curtailed in the proportion of three or
four per cent, per annum during this crisis of the famine, it would
have saved many lives, and yet not have afliicted a wound or scar on
the health of commerce. The fault that I find with the system,
then, is, that -it not only allows but sanctions and approves of a prin-
ciple, which operates differently in two provinces of the same State,
divided only by a channel of the sea. It multiplies deposits of idle
money in the banks, on one side of that channel, and multiplies dead
and coffinless bodies in the cabins, and along the highways, on the
other. The fault that I find with it is, that it guarantees the right
of the rich man to enter on the fields cultivated by the poor man
whom he calls his tenant, and carry away the harvest of his labour,
and this, whilst it imposes on him no duty to leave behind at least
food enough to keep that poor man alive, until the earth shall again
yield its fruits. The fault that I find with it is, that it provides
wholesome food, comfortable raiment and lodgings for the rogues,
and thieves, and murderers of the dominions, whilst it leaves the
honest, industrious, virtuous peasant to stagger at his labour through
inanition, and fall to ris&no more ! Oh! if this system be all in all,
why did he not, in his forlorn state, entitle himself to its advan-
556 Iechbishoj' itughes.
tages ? Why did lie not steal, or commit murder ? — for then the
profeetion of our modern Christian governments would be ex-
tended to him, and he would not be allowed to die of want. I may
be told that I avail myself unfairly of an extraordinary calamity to
prove the defects of our present system; I may bt) told that the
famine in Ireland is a mysterious visitation of God's providence, but I
do not admit any such plea. I fear there is blasphemy in charging
on the Almighty what is the result of man's own doings. Famine
in Ireland is, and has been for many years, like the cholera in India,
indigenous. As long as it is confined to a comparatively few cases
in the obscure and sequestered parts of the country, it may be said
that the public administrators of social and political economy are
excusable, inasmuch as it had not come under their notice ; but, in
the present instance, it has attracted the attention of the whole
world. And yet they call its God's famine ! No ! no ! God's
famine is known by the general scarcity — there has been no general
scarcity of food in Ireland either the present or the past year ex-
cept in one species of vegetable. The soil has produced its usual
tribute for the support of those by whom it has been cultivated;
but political economy found the Irish people too poor to pay for tbe
harvest of their own labor, and has exported it to a better mar-
ket, leaving them to die of famine, or to live on alms ; and this s-ime
political economy authorises the provision merchant, even amidst
the desolation, to keep his doors locked, and his sacks of corn tied
up within, waiting for a better price, whilst he himself is, perhaps,
at his desk, describing the wretchedness of the people and the ex-
tent of the misery ; setting forth for the eye of the first lord of the
treasury with what exemplary patience the peasantry bear their
sufferings, with what admirable resignation they fall down through
weakness at the threshold of his warcliouse, without having even
attempted to burst a door, or break a window.
Such conduct is praised everywhere, even her Majesty, in a royal
speech, did not disdain to approve of it ; and it is, in truth, deserv-
ing of admiration, for the sacredness of the rights of property
must be maintained at all sacrifices, unless we would have society
to dissolve itself into its original elements ; still the rights of life
are dearer and higher than those of property; and in a general
famine like the present, there is no law of Hea'ven, nor of nature
that forbids a starving man to seize on bread wherever he can
find it, even though it should be the loa\es of proposition on the
altar of God's temple. But, I would say to those who maintain the
sacred and inviolable rights of property, if they would have the
claim respected, to be careful also and scrupulous in recognising
the rights of humanity. In a crisis like that which is now passing
the Irish may submit to die rather than violate the rights of
property; but in such a calamity, should it ever happen, which God
forbid, the Scotch will not submit; the English will not submit; the
French will not submit; and, depend upon it, the Americans will
not submit. Let us be careful, then, not to blaspheme Providence
LECTUEE ON THE lEISlI FAMINE. ' 557
by calling this God's famine. Society, tliat great civil corporation
which we call the State, is bound so long as it has the power to do
so, to guard the lives of its members against being sacrificed by
famine from within, as much as against their being slaughtered by
the enemy from without. But the A'ice which is inherent in our
system of social and political economy is so subtile that it eludes all
pursuit, that you cannot find or trace it to any responsible source.
The man, indeed, over whose dead body the coroner holds the in-
quest, has been murdered, but no one has killed him. There is no
external wound, there is no symptom of internal disease. Society
guarded him against all outward violence ; it merely enSircled him
around in order to keep up what is termed the j-egnlar current
of trade, and then political economy, with an invisible hand, ap-
plied the air-pump to the narrow limits within which he was con-
fined, and exhausted the atmosphere of his physical life. Who did
it ? No one did it, and yet it has been done.
It is manifest that the causes of Ireland's present snfiTerings have
been multitudinous, remote, and I might almost say, perpetual.
Nearly the whole land of the country is in the ownership of per-
sons having no sympathy with its population except that of self-
interest — her people are broken down in their physical condition
by the previous calamities to which I have directed your atten-
tion. Since her union with England, commerce followed capital, or
found it in that country, and forsook the sister island. Nothing re-
mained but the produce of the soil. That produce was sent to
England to find a better market, for the rent must be paid ; but
neither the produce nor the rent ever returned. It has been es-
timated that the average export of capital from this source has
been, equal to some twenty-five or perh.aps thirty millions of dollars
annually, for the last seven and forty years ; and it is at the close
of the'last period, by the failure of the potato, that Ireland, with-
out trade, without manufactures, without any returns for her agri-
cultural exports, sinks beneath the last feather, not that the feather
was so weighty, but that the burthen previously imposed was far
above her strength to bear. If it be true that the darkest hour of
the night is that which irnmediately precedes the dawn, may we not
indulge the hope that there are better days yet in store for this
unfortunate people. They have been crushed and ruined in all the
primary elements of their material happiness, but yet they have
never forfeited any of the higher attributes of a noble, generous na-
ture. They might, perhaps, have shared with the other portions of
the empire in the physical comforts and improvements of modern
civilization if they had renounced their religion, at the period when
the others saw fit to change theii-s ; but after the present famine
shall have been forgotten, the high testimony which the Ii-ish
people bore to the holiness of conviction within their soul, at all
risks, and through all sacrifices, will be considered an honor to hu-
manity itself. They believed, whether rightly or not is not now
the question, but right or wrong, they believed that to profess a
558 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
religion which had no hold on their conviction, would offend God,
and involve them in the double guilt of falsehood and hypocracy —
that it would degrade them in their own minds — that it would en-
title them to the contempt of the world — and sooner than do
this, they submitted to everything besides. There was this one
sovereignty which they never relinquished — the sovereignty of con-
science and the privilege of self-respect. Their soul has never been
conquered ; and if it was said in Pagan times that the noblest spectacle
which this earth could present to the eye of the immortal gods, was
that of a virtuous man bravely struggling with adversity, what
might not be said of a nation of such men who have so struggled
through entire centuries ? Neither can it be said that their spirit is
yet broken. Intellect, sentiment, fancy, wit, eloquence, music, and
poetry, are, I might say, natural and hereditary attributes of the Irish
mind and the Irish heart ; and if no adversity of ages was sufficient to
crush these capacities and powers, who will say that such a people
have not, under happier circumstances, within themselves a princi-
ple of selfregeneration and improvement, which will secure to them
at least an ordinarj' portion of the happiness of which they have
been so long deprived ? The charity of other countries, and among
them pre-eminently of England herself, the sympathy of distant
and fiee States, on this occasion, will themselves have an effect.
They will show Ireland that she is cared for ; they will inspire her
with the pleasing hope that she is not to be always the down-trod-
den and neglected province,. the outcast nation among the nations of
the earth.
CHRISTIANITY, THE ONLY SOURCE OF MORAL,
SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL REGENERATION.
A SERMON PREACHED IN THE HALL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRE-
SENTATIVES OF THE UNIJED STATES ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER
12, 1847, BY THE RT. REV. JOHN HUGHES, D. D., BISHOP OF NEW
YORK.
From the Washington Correspondence of the W. Y, JYibunc,.
Washington, Dec. 16, 1847.
You have already seen several notices of the eloquent sermon preached by Bishop
Hughes at ihe Capitol on Sunday last. I trust some of the publishers may' issue an
authorized -version of it in pamphlet form, for preservation. Should any one imdar-
SEKMON BEFORE CONGRESS.
559
take the task, the following correspondence, ■which led to its delivery, and which has
not yet been published, will be wortliy of a place in the painplilet :
■WAsniNGTON, Deo. 6, 1847.
To Eight Reverend Bishop Hughes:
Sir — The undersignbd. Members of Congress, respectfully inyite you to preacli
in the Mall of the Housn of Representatives on Sunday morning next ( 1 2th inst.),
at 11 o'cl.ock, unless some other hour of the day may be more agreeuble to you.
We are, Right Ret. Sir, your obedient servants,
OF THE SENATE :
John Davis, Massachusetts.
John M. Clayton, Delaware.
William Upham, Vermont.
J. J. Crittenden, Kentucky.
S. A. Douglass, Illinois.
Chester Ashley, Arkansas.
John P. Hale. New Hampshire.
Sam'jel S. Phelps, Vermont.
Simon Camero.n, Pennsylvania.
Albert C. Greene, Rhode Island.
D. S. Dickinson, New York.
D. R. AcfiESON, Missouri.
E. A. Hannegan', Indiana.
J. C. Calhoun, South Carolina.
Lewis Cass, MichigHU.
Thomas Corwin, Ohio.
Willip, p. Manguh, North Carolina.
J. A. Pearce, Maivhind.
Thomas H. Hentox, Missouri.
Sidney Breeze, Illinois.
OF THE HOUSE OF KBPESBNTATIVBS :
John Quinct Adaiiis, Massachusetts.
JosKPH Grixnell, Masssichusetts.
Washington Hunt. New York.
J. H. Johnson, Neiv Hampshire.
W. DuER, New York.
T. Bittler King, Oeorgia.
0. Kellogg, New York.
J. (i. Hampton, New Jersey.
HuniT White, New York.
R. TooMRS. Georgia.
Caleb B. Smith, Indiana.
W. Ballard Preston, Virginia.
Samuel F. Vjntox. Ohio.
John Pendleton, Virginia.
John A. McClernaxd, Illinois.
J. K. Giddings, Ohio.
E. C. Cabel, Florida.
WiLLARD p. Hall, Missouri.
John Wentworth, Illinois.
D. WiLMOT, Pennsylvania.
J. H. Harmaxson, Louisiana.
Wm. T. Haskell, Tennessee.
W. R. W. Cobb, Alabama.
James A. Black, South Carolina
James Dixon, Couneetiout.
Linn Boyd, ICentuoky.
JonN M. HoTTS, Virginia.
D. B. St. John, New York.
C. J. Ingersoll, Pennsylvania.
James J. Faran, Ohio.
E. Sherrill, New York.
F. A. Tallmadge, New York.
I. E. Holmes, South Carolina.
Washington, 9th Dec, 1847.
It gives me pleasure to place the Hall of the liouse of Representatives at the
service of Bishop Hughes, in conformity with the above invitation.
Egbert C. Winthrop, Speaker H. R.
This list would have been much longer, hut there was not time to present^ it to
the members generally. It embraces, however, the leading men of both parties in
both Houses of Congress. It was handed to the Bishop on Thursday evening. The
following is his reply :
To Bbnorable John Quincy Adams and other Eon. Members of loth Houses of
Gentlemen— 1 have just been favored with your note of yesterday, inviting me
to preacli in the Hall of the House of Representatives on Sunday morning next.
1 do not feci at liberty to decline a compliance with a wish so kindly expressed on
your part, and so flattering to me. I have the honor to remain, gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
>Ji John Hughes, Kshop of Mw Torh.
560 AECHBISnOP HUGHES.
SERMON.
The portion of tbe Holy Scriptures which I am about to read, is
found in the 20th chapter of St. Matthew, beginning with the 20th
verse :
" Tlien came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, with Iier eons, adoring
and asking Eomething of him.
" Wlio said to her: What wilt thou? She said to him : Say that tlieae my two
Bons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left, in Thy king-
dom.
" And Jesus answering, said ; You know not what you ast. Can you drink the
chalice that I shall drink ? They say to him : We can.
" lie saith to them : My chalice indeed you shall drink, bat to sit on My right or
My left hand, is not Mine to give yon, hut to them for whom it is prepared by
My Father.
" And the ten liearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
" But Jesus called them to him, and said : You know that the princes of the
Gentiles lord it over them ; and they that are the greater exercise power upon
them.
" It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be the greater among you,
let him he your minister.
" And he that will be first among you shall be your servant,
"Even as the Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give His life a redemption for many."
It is observed, Christian brethren, as something remarkable, that
in all the records which the inspired writers have left us, of the life
and the teachings of the Son of God upon earth, there appears to
be scarcely one direct allusion to the outward condition of that fal-
, len race, which He came to raise and to redeem. Questions of
government — questions of social right would seem to have been
more urgent then than they are now ; and yet we cannot find one
solitary principle or precept, having the amelioration of these as
the direct object of our Saviour. He did not appear surrounded
with the pomp and . the pretension of a reformer. He did not, in
propounding those doctrines which involve the hope of the world,
appeal to the sanction and to the support of public opinion. He
did not even sustain his maxims by any lengthened train of reason-
ing, although He sometimes condescended to illustrate His mean-
ing, by reference to parables and usages familiar to the people ;
and yet I will not say too much, when I add, that all the ameliora-
tion which has taken place in the history of man, and all the ele-
ments by which it may still be promoted, are contained in the di-
vine lessons which our blessed Saviour inculcated in reference to
another, a brighter and a better world than this. He took occasion
to convey one of these lessons from that manifestation of man's na-
ture, which came before Him in the incident recorded by the evan-
gelist, in the passage which I have just read. The poor mother,
with the affection and the pardonable ambition natural to the ma-
SEEMOlf BEFOEE CONGEESS. 561
tei'nal heart, wanted to secure in time a place of distiixtion for her
two sons, who had abeady attached themselves to His teachings,
and were numbered amongst His disciples ; and when their appli-
eation was made known, the ten, by a manifestation of another at-
tribute of fallen human nature, exhibited symptoms of their indig-
nation and jealousy. They were filled, says the text, with indig-
nation at the two. As yet, the true light of Christian faith had
not taken effect in their breasts — as yet, their spirits were in the
condition of our first parent, when God fashioned him out of the
mould of the earth, with all his features and all his corporal facul-
ties ready, but whilst, as yet, the breath of life had not been
breathed into him in the character of a living soul. So it was with
their spiritual nature ; since, notwithstanding the divine teachings,
they could not raise their minds above the low distinctions which
constituted the object of ambition on the one side, and the object
of jealousy and indignation on the other. From this our divine
Saviour takes occasion to speak, and in His gentle rebuke, and
comprehensive instruction. He touched upon that principle which
has ever been, and ever will be, when indulged, the enemy of so-
cial happiness, and the enemy of equal just rights in the world. He
referred to the nations of the earth, at that time, without rule or
restraint, or limitation, of supreme power. He sa!d : You know
how they lord it over their subjects ; but as for you, (addressing
not the future lords of the temporal condition of man, but address-
ing those who were to be the ministers and the founders of that
other and better kingdom, which He came to establish upon earth)
— whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your min-
ister. Thus He impressed upon his followers the necessity of im-
posing upon themselves the wholesome restraints of self-denial and
humility.
Beloved brethren, it was at quite a late period of the week that
I was honored with the invitation, which I prize so highly, to ad-
dress you from this place. I had already consented to speak in
one of our churches, where my presence would be more natural
and more expected ; and for that place I had prepared, by reflec-
tion, some remarks on a subject, which I would not deem suitable,
on the present occasion ; for I should feel that I corresponded but
poorly to a compliment so much to be valued, if I could obtrude
upon you any reflections or arguments ,upon those doctrinal sub-
jects, which to too great an extent, have divided the Christian
world.
Allow me then to make some reflections upon Christianity and
Us Author, as containing and setting forth the germ of moral, social,
and political regeneration. in this falkn world of ours. For, whilst I
admit it as true, that our divine Saviour seemed to regard those
mighty things which occupy the whole soul of men, even of wise
and benevolent men, as if He would do them sufficient justice by
leaving, in the language of the inspired text, " the dead to bury
the dead," yet I contend that they were by no means unprovidtc
36
562 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
for, in His teachings. The object of His mission upon earth was of
a higher and holier character than the mere settlement of human
government. Man had incurred the enmity of his Maker, by diso-
bedience. Man had forfeited the inheritance for which God had
originally created him ; an4 Jesus Christ, in fulfilment of the first
object of His mission, came as peacemaker between the offended
Creator and Supreme Lord, and His rebellious and disobedient
creature and subject. But yet, whilst, as it is remarked by a writer
on laws, the direct object of Christ appears to have had reference
to another life, it is singular that its indirect consequences seem
to constitute the only true ground of hope and of happiness, even
in the affairs of this world. And it is in that point of view that I
would invite your attention to two or three reflections ; the first of
which will be, the condition of human nature and especially its con-
dition at the period when the Son of God appeared as man — not
only to ransom our race by the infinite merits of his atonement and
redemption, but also to re-establish and open anew the communica-
tion between the immortal soul and God, who is its eternal Author.
This was the direct object of His mission : and we are not to doubt
that all those things which appear to us so mysterious, so inexpli-
cable, so incomprehensible — that, sometimes we seem to derive
rather the elements of scepticism from them^that all those things,
in the wise providence of God, are susceptible of explanation, and
fall into harmony with the general designs of His providence. The
second reflection will be the principles by which that amelioration,
wherever it has taken place, has been achieved — and the third, the
application of those principles, so far as they have been applied to
the mere transitory, social and political condition of mankind. If I
speak first, then, of the condition of human nature, I speak from
conclusions to which every mind must have come that is familiar
with the achievements of man, unaided by the light of divine reve-
lation, and unwarmed in his heart by the love which Jesus Christ
brought from heaven, and breathed, as the spirit of life, into that
society which was founded on the basis of His doctrine. We find
man accomplishing, in Greece and Rome, what constitute, at this
day, objects of our astonishment and admiration ; and yet, both in
Greece and Rome, with all the superiority of his intellect, we dis-
cover him either bowing down to gods, the creatures of this earth,
and sometimes of his own hand, or worshipping abstract deities,
whose history was made up of vices, the very imitation of which
would have corrupted a pure nation, instead of their being models
to elevate, by imitation of the virtues that Deity ought to exhibit.
And how was all this ? It involved a contradiction — and that con-
tradiction still subsists in our nature. It i& the contradiction by
which human nature is susceptible, under certain circumstances, of
such heroic and noble virtues, and by which, on the other hand, it
is subject to such degrading and brutifying vices. It is the aspira-
tion, unbounded, of the soul, in which, even in this life, if you
-watch its course, not all the wealth that earth possesses, can reach
SEEMON BKFOKB CONGRESS. 563
the measure of man's avarice ; not all the honors, can reach that of
his ambition. The origin of this enigma, revelation has made
known'. But even if revelation had been silent, that which the
ancient philosophy of Greece .surmised with good reason, becomes
manifest, that this humanity, this compound of contradictions, never
could ha,ve come originally from the hand of an infinitely wise and
perfect God, in this condition. There must have been a catastro-
phe, and revelation comes to teach us what that was ; and in order
to understand the history of this nature, and the object of the in-
carnation of the Son of God taking it upon Him for our redemp-
tion, we have one key : — that key is man's original revolt against
God's government. It is asked sometimes, by unreflecting minds,
who are puzzled by this strange exhibition of our nature, why was
it that God left such awful consequences dependent upon the crea-
ture, whom He had just formed ! The answer is such as we mijy
give, according to the limited measure of our knowledge, for when
we speak of God, and of God's dealings with the Universe and its
inhabitants, we must speak within tlie limits of our capacity — we
have no measure to comprehend God. Our capacity is limited, and
according to that small measure only are we permitted to speak ;
and whilst we admit still the existence of the mystery, we may pre-
sent a reasonable solution of the difficulty here suggested. It is
• this : God is alone the Supreme Governor — ^tho alone eternal, inde-
pendent, infinite Being. Conceding these attributes, we must ad-
mit that, consistently with them, God could not create any being,
and especially a rational being, endowed with the attributes of
man's spiritual nature, and leave him indejjeiidenl, as if he were to
be another God.
There is no work of God that is independent of its supreme author,
or of His rule, or of His government ; and accordingly, though the
seasons may have been altered, and the earth deformed in conse-
quence of man's disobedience, we yet trace, as we may, with great
gralification, the obedience of all things else to the government of
their glorious Creator. If you turn your eyes upon the heavens,
you perceive with what regularity the starry host move on their
appointed way. Day by day and year by year — for ever and ever
— each twinkling lamp of heaven is in its place — all in the beautiful
order which God appointed for their movements. The sun fails not
to rise to enlighten and warm the earth at the appointed hour ; and
not from want of light, but from its excess, when he sheds his efful-
gence on the earth, these stars seem to, hide away. If you turn
your eyes to the earth, the seasons — except in the mysterious order
in which we have reason to believe that they were changed, when
man become a rebel — the seasons themselves come at. the period
appointed. The earth buds forth its myriads of flowers. The warm
summer ripens all that the fertile soil is destined to yield for the
sustenance of man. Autumn furnishes the season for gathering its
bounties ; and repose is again furnished by the winter. If you look
upon the ocean, you see the same unvs,rying obedience to the great
564 AECHBISHOP HFGHES.
Creator. In all material things we see this harmony of passive sub-
jection to the will of Him who called them into being. Man is the
only exception to the universal order of obedience. And why is
man the exception ? Originally, we may say, that man, by the very
dignity of his nature, could not yield obedience to God in the way
■ in which it is manifested by irrational material things. Earth and
sky present a book in which God has traced, with His own hands,
the evidence of His power and the glory of the Creator. But that
book does not comprehend itself Man is necessary to read and
interpret its contents. To him — created free, but not independent
— God, even in the condition of his innocence, made >known the law
by which he was to shape his conduct, and admonished him of the
penalty of the violation of that law. If it be said that God might
have created man so as to leave him without the power of rebellion,
then, what would have been the consequence ? That man, with an
immortal soul, with reason which can look abroad upon the works
of God, and an imagination which can gather to its own chambers
the ma-iestic firmament itself, and then measure the distances, and
comprehend the movements of the hosts of heaven, with almost god-
like faculty, would have been identified with gross material things.
He would have been subjected with them to a law of necessity, such
as that by which God governs all that is material in the world. If
man had been thus created, how could he have rendered unto God
homage and worship worthy of either? The obedience rendered by
such a being would have been only like that of the tree which bends
to the blast which agitates its branches. Man would then have been
reduced to the condition of the puppet strung upon the wire, and
not even a mortal occupant of a throne would feel flattered by the
mock homage of a machine so arranged that it could not avoid bow-
ing in reverence to his greatness. God has, therefore, made man
free, because it was requisite for the dignity of the nature bestowed
upon him, that he should render a voluntary homage to the Creator.
Being free, he necessarily had the power of disobedience, and there
is the key which explains the other mystery — itself indeed myste-
rious. There is that which accounts for the introduction of evil into
the world. Thus disobedience — a reversal of God's order by man's
own power, an evil having its origin at the cradle of our race, and
receiving accumulations of guilt and familiarity with depravity in
the progress of time — accounts for the condition of mankind. God
declared that there should be penalties, as marked in the book of
revelation — in the book of Genesis — -were so far of the temporal
order. Man should die— he should have to toil — and here we have
the origin of sickness, and of disappointment, and of deception, and
of all the various instrumentalities by which oftentimes sorrow
traces our pathway from the cradle to the grave. These are the
consequences of man's disobedience. And then God seemed to have
withdrawn, as it were, from the rebel — not altogether — ^for even our
first parent beheld, through the tears of his repentance, one bright
but as yet feeble ray of hope on the horizon of the distant future ;
SEPvMON BEFOBE CONGRESS. 565
and his posteiv'ty in the order of the patriarchs, were by no means
forsaken of Gpd. He communicated to them, from time to time, the
purposes of His mercy ; and he made them, in the first instance, to
be the_ long-lived patriarchs— the rulers of their family and of their
posterity — so that the same individual was a teacher of religion, a
high priest, and a king. But as their posterity increased, it became
necessary to form the scattered families into an aggregate, called a
nation. And then God did not leave them, for they were His chosen
people? He_ did not leave them to form, at their own caprice, laws
for their social and political government. He communicated their
laws. He established their religion. He sent, at intervals, prophets
to instruct them, and everything bore with concentrated gaze upon
a point of time future, and upon a person on whose appearance
the ransom and redemption of this fallen race were to be accom-
plished. As for the Gentiles, as the text declares them to have cor-
rupted their way, they went forth, under the law of our nature, by
wl^ich man is still a social being, destined, by an unconquerable pro-
pensity of his heart, to associate with his fellow-creatures. Conse-
quently, social forms of existence were necessary ; but they were
formed in the absence of divine light, and though reason, so called,
was as powerful then as now — although what we term principles of
natural justice should have been familiar — yet if you look abroad
upon the .face of the earth at the period at which our Saviour ad
monished His apostles, you will iind nowhere this pretended excel
lence of reason — nowhere that just or humane government, which
the \evy promptings of the natural heart should seem to have dic-
tated ; but everywhere the multitude crushed to the earth under
the iron-shod hoof of irresponsible, absolute, despotic power.
If, then, as in our day, men sometimes reason against religion,
and if they reason with singular acuteness, I will tell them that their
reasoning, and the reasoning of those whom they vindicate or follow,
is not a specimen of man's intellect before it was taught and illu-
mined by the light which God shed upon the world through the
religion of His JDivine Son. If you want to know what human
reason is capable of in government and religion, or in any of those
things upon which reason founds the highest exercise of its powers,
go to the period when human reason alone sw.ayed the temporal des-
tinies of mankind, and you will find man in Egypt bowing down to
the ox, and worshipping the vegetables of the field, as regards re-
ligion : you will find him, as regards government, not questioning
— for he did not dare to question — his reason never aspired to the
right of questioning — the arbitrary power which his rulers exercised
with so relentless a tyranny. Even Rome itself, with all its pre-
tended freedom, had degenerated into a military despotism. It is
in ameliorating this condition of things that the admonition of our
Divine Saviour began to have its operation and efficacy. He tells
his apostles, for the correction of all this, that those Who would be
free must begin by imposing restraints upon themselves. He insin-
«a,tes that there is in the heart of man a natural selfishness ; that that
5C6 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
selfishness originatds in the corrupted sources of his passions, and
that He, at least in His own kingdom, would have His followers to
restrain selfishness ; and, so far from insisting upon pre-eminence,
He declares that those who would best serve Him must become
first the servants of their fellow-beings. It was in such a condition
of the world that our Divine Saviour spoke ; and though, as I have
said. He did not seem to interfere with the civil Governments of
this earth — whether they should be monarchies or republic^, des-
potic or aristocratic — He treated not of these questions at all — yet
we find in His teachings the germ of all that is great and glorious
in the social and political condition of mankind. I do not say that
their condition is, even now, what it ought to be ; inasmuch as the
Redeemer came, not to alter human nature, but to impart new
powers for restraining its corruption by self-control ; He came to
infuse a new principle ; He came to breathe a new spirit into those
who would be guided by His light ; and it is from this source that
we may derive improvement in the social and political condition of
the world.
It was necessary, beloved brethren, that man should be taught
by authority. He had not discovered his duties by any appeal to
his own breast. Until the appearance of Christ, the selfishness of
his nature was the ruling law of his action. The opportunities that
presented themselves for the gratification of that selfishness were
always greedily seized on ; and as for restraint, he knew none. If
he questioned his own heart, it imposed no law of self-denial. On
the contrary, it prompted him to the indulgence of selfishness — to
the gratification of his evil passions. There was, therefore, no re-
straint, and it was necessary that the authority of God should lay
down those rules for the government of human conduct which
Christ conveyed in his lessons to his disciples. These laws, whilst
calculated to improve and exalt the indi\idual man, were also
adapted to the improvement and elevation of his race in their social
character. Such was the religion which the Divine Saviour came
to teach. He appeared without pomp. His birth was humble and
obscure. His lot was equally so. His death was an iniquity in
those by whom it was perpetrated. Nevertheless, He was the prom-
ised One of the ancient prophets, upon whom the eyes of all anti-
quity, even from the darkness of paganism, with some faint recol-
lections of primitive tradition, had rested for four thousand years.
His coming was not an event which took the world by surprise.
It had been anticipated. It had been shadowed forth in the belief
of the patriarchs, and in the religion of the Jewish people — so
much so, that His appearance was essential to confirm the truth of
the same. They were, so to speak. Christians ; but Christians hav-
ing the object of their hope in the future, whilst we, on the other
hand, for nearly two thousand years, have looked, bar kwards with
intense gaze upon His sepulchre which the prophet dtclared should
be glorious. He established the evidence of His mission from God,
by Ilis miracles ; so that man saw that in them was the teaching of
SEE3I0N BEFORE CONGEESS. 567
tlieir Creator and of their supreme Lord. Let us now ask, what
was the sum of the Saviour's teaching ? I speak not now of the
mysteries which he revealed ; nor yet of ^hose doctrines which are
the dogmata of faith ; but I speak of the moral part of his teach-
ing, \yhich has its foundation in doctrine, whilst both morals and
doctrine, to be of authority, must have God for their Author.
Detail would be impossible— but let us direct our attention to
one or two principles which the teachings of our Saviour distinctly
conveyed, and established as the groundwork from which other
consequences in infinite variety of detail may be deduced. One of
these principles is that no man upon earth is irresponsible— that al-
though his fellow-creature may not have the right or the power, or
the opportunity to call him to account, yet he lives under the uni-
versal and watchful eye of his all-seeing God ; and whether you
refer to his actions, or his words, or the secret purposes of his in-
most heart, there is a witness — a God of infinite justice, to whom
he must render a personal and awful account. There is now hope
for the fallen race of man — hope, if he will but practically believe
this blessed doctrine ; for in it the subject and the sovereign, the
weak and the strong, the oppressed slave and the despotic master,
are equally subject to restraint — to prescription of limits — to a wit-
ness ; and all know, that according to their obedience and conform-
ity to that standard, will be their own eternal destiny in another
world.
Thus, this doctrine teaches in itself the responsibility of man to
a law, and a witness that cannot be evaded. You make laws in this
hall of supreme temporal power ; but then can you make them
binding on the consciences of men ? Yes, with one condition. If
men, before your laws are enacted, have, as a principle in their
hearts, the belief that God sanctions authority — that subordination
is necessary to society — that subordination cannot be maintained
without laws — that there is a higher and holier Law-maker, who
gives sanction to your laws — then they will fear to violate your
enactments, even when there is no eye of executive justice resting
upon them. Where will you place the security and sacredness of
legislation, but in this principle of the necessity of account where
deception will be utterly impossible ? And yet this is the sternest
view of the divine teachings of our blessed Saviour ; for in other
respects, he made all those virtues which constitute at once the hap-
piness of the individual, and contribute to the prosperity of the
State — made them sweet and dear to the hearts of those who were
imbued with his spirit and walked in the footsteps of his example.
He was the eternal Son of God — he might have chosen the high and
honorable posts of the world ; but then ho knew that humanity had
been too long and too deeply crushed not to sympathize with its
humblest condition, and he conferred honor on poverty by being
born and living in that state, in preference to any other.
We know that love of wealth has been the destruction not
merely of the souls of those given up to avarice, but also the cause
568 ARCHBISHOP HaGHES.
of destruction and evil to others who stood in the way of its at-
tainment, and accordingly, to counteract this bj' his example, he
chose to be poor and humble. Yet wanted he no dignity to fulfill
his mission. If he chose to speak according to tho language of hu-
man ideas and associations, he was a King — ^he was an Eternal King,
by Tirtue of his Divine character. But he was, even according to
his human form, a Hneal descendant of the royal house of David.
And yet this King, when he goes forth among his subjects, pro-
claims that though the birds of the air had their nests, the Son of
Man bad not whereon to repose his weary head. Yes, injustice
existed, and still exists in the world, and injustice so extravagant
that his precursor, the Angel of the Wilderness, is the victim of
his moral courage, pining in the dungeon until the dancing girl
asks his head of a prince of Judah ; and even in Judah, where God's
law had been established, the petition is no sooner presented than
it is complied with, and the head of the Baptist is furnished on a
dish, and set forth before the gay assembly. So., also, in the life of
Christ, injustice places him on trial, though no crime was imputed,
and he also is made the victim of iniquity, at which the heart of
man would have revolted, had it not been under the domion of evil.
Even the Roman Governor who represented the mistress of the
world, pagan though he was, had sufiicient natural light to discover
the innocence of the prisoner tried before him ; but the moment
that the question of enmity or friendship to Csesar was mooted,
that moment innocence and justice are all sacrificed to the passion
of selfishness, which, once implanted in the human breast cannot
be rooted out, or subdued, except by the influence of the example
and precepts of our blessed Saviour. If, however, we extend our
view further, we behold how these principles began to work grad-
ually in the temporal regeneration of mankind. It was necessary
that a power, superior to the fears and the hopes of the great of
this world, should be manifested ; and accordingly our Redeemer
asked no permission of emperors and rulers to propagate his king-
dom ; he sought no alliance with the governments of the earth for
the protection of his religion ; but he took twelve humble men and
commissioned them to go forth and preach his Gospel. They dif-
fused his doctrines ; and for three centuries, vinder the iron pres-
sure of paganism, when it thought to extinguish the rising heresy
in the blood of its first disciples, that religion struggled on victo-
rious, showing martyrs — heroes for the love of truth^for the love
of God — for the love of man — superior to the iniquitous tribunals
before which they were condemned, and to the tortures to which
oftentimes their tender limbs were subjected. Here was a new
lesson for mankind. Although the ancient philosophers of Greece
spoke in pompous phrases of virtue, they exhibited no example ;
they made no converts ; or, if they did, their converts did not be-
lieve sufficiently in their doctrine to have ventured so much as the
loss of their little finger. The religion of Christ, then, triumphed
over the persecution of the pagan emperors, and at last we behold
SEKMON BEFOEB CONGRESS. 569
him, who was the heir of the Caesars, making his reverence, and
acknowledging the supremacy of the Christian religion.
Looking back now from the end of the volume towards its com-
mencement, we can find many a p.age more dazzling than the one
which was added on the day of the emperor's conversion; yet it
was a Avondeiful triumph when the doctrines of Jesus Christ beat
back those passions of the human heart to such an extent that Con-
stantino, of his own volition, put bounds to the authority which had
descended to his hands without limits from his predecessor. Nom-
inal laws, indeed, there were, but they were subject to corrupt in-
terpretation. These laws could be, and had been, overruled by the
rescript of the emperor, and the subjects of the once free state had
been left without any recognized defense against the inhumanity
and cruelty even of a capricious Nero, or a Caligula.
Constantino for the first time, out of i-everence to the principles
taught by Christ, decreed that the emperor should no longer have
power by rescript to ovennile the established law of the empire.
His successor improved upon that concession. Justinian and Theo-
dosius framed that code, which, however it may be unsuited to the
changes which some fourteen hundred years have wrought in the
social condition of man, yet exhibited progressive evidences of
limitation — spontaneous, voluntary limitation, of what had been until
then supreme and boundless authority. The events which occurred
subsequently — the influx of those hardy populations of the North
— their rushing down upon the once civilized plains and cities of
the falling empire, with all that strange admixture of bravery and
barbarism — presented, as it were, a new world of wild passions, to
be again softened down and mitigated by the gentle influences of
Christianity. These Northern barbarians burst forth like a deluge,
and it was only the principles taught by Jesus Christ, which enabled
His followers to preserve for postei'ity the small and feeble rem-
nants of ancient civilization which have come down to us. Thus
was infused into Christian nations the germ of regeneration, be-
cause the sacrifices which the general happiness of mankind require
from each individual, of what is personal and selfish, of ease, and
of distinction, and of dignity, required an adequate motive. Man
acts not without motive. The Christian religion supplies the
most exalted motive for human action. In vain do you search
the writings of heathen philosophers — in- vain do you study the
splendid recompense of self-satisfaction which so-called philanthro-
pists ofier as the reward of virtue, in order to discover an adequate
stimulus to virtuous conduct. It is only in the divine morality of
the Christian faith, that \ye are furnished with a worthy motive to a
virtuous and holy life. There we are taught that God is our re-
■vvrard — that He is the rewarder of those who seek him— that He
will punish your injustice toward your brethren — that He has so
honored His disciples as to place Himself, as it were, in their stead,
declaring, as the beneficent Redeemer of man has declared, " What-
soever ye do unto one of these little ones, ye do even unto Me !"
570 AECHBISflOP HUGHES.
I know not, beloved brethren, -whether we, in an age which has
m\ioh to boast of, but which is not yet quite perfect, can form an
adequate idea of the importance of this element infused into the
human heart viz. : the love of God for His own sake, and the love
of JTiao for the sake of our common Father. But I do know that
apart even from those sterner rules of divine justice and eternal
responsibility which religion prescribes, there is infused into the
doctrines and teachings of our Saviour a certain power of attrac-
tion which wins the heart, so as to make it enamored of the sacri-
fices by which the world's selfishness has been shamed and abated.
Tell me the calamity to which man is subject that has not found a
remedy under the impulse of those divine whisperings ? Do you
speak of age, formerly, in enlightened nations, so neglected ? Do
you sp^ak of infancy, abandone d by its criminal authors ? Do you
speak of the horrors of war ? Do you speak of the rights of pa-
tions, of the sanctity of the first government, the family, and the
holiness of domestic law ? Have they not all felt the hallowed in-
fluence of the religion of peace and love ? ""Where among the ancients
do you find public provision for the poor ? Where were the hospitals
of heathen civilization ? Where do you behold houses in which to
gather the broken and trampled reeds of human misfortune ?
Where do you find war regulated by a spirit of humanity ? Where
do you find a recognition of the rights of nations, or of individual
man ? Nowhere. And in vain do you search for any other origin
of those blessings than that source from whence they sprang ; God,
established the word of his eternal justice, through the medium of
his divine Son, upon the earth, holding man to a just accountability
for his crimes, and making virtue so sweet that the very sacrifices
which it demands become themselves the recompense of its exercise.
Who and where is the legislator that could teach me to rush
into the atmosphere of pestilence and death, in order to minister at
the bed-side of him who is nothing to me ? Where is the legisla-
tor, emperor, or president or congress who could induce me to re-
linquish the pleasure which I might share with others, in order to
go forth and sacrifice myself for the relief of others ? And yet the
law of Christ, while we seem not to speak of it at all, has infused
the power by which we have seen man, and, above all, woman, who
comprehends this power in all its divine delicacy, devoting, year by
year to the service of Jesus Christ, a life which too many others
waste in the empty vanities of the world. Nay, more, if you look
to the high governments of the world, you will witness the gradual
influence of the same power. In England we behold Edward the
Confessor, diminishing his own prerogatives and conceding them
to the people, who, from these very concessions, were enabled to
assume a bolder tone, and demand from his successor their written
confirmation. Thus, by the influence of Christianity, you have
secured the first great parent-character of the modern liberties of
the Western World. Wherever Christianity has not gone there
has been no progress. Have the emperors of the pagan world
SEKMON BEFOEB CONGRESS. 6Vl
al ridged their ])ower ? Can they exhibit any instance oi self-denial
akin to those to which I have alluded, as the offspring of Chris-
tianity ? And why is it, that with such a divine code as that of the
Christian religion. Christian nations have not yet attained to the
perfection of its virtue ? It is because men will not obey that which
has been prescribed as the rule of their conduct. It is because
they choose to adhere to the side of evil ; and were it not for this,
it would seem as if Christian nations ought to exhibit again the ex-
ample and the beauty of that condition of innocence — nay, I should
say a condition almost more honorable than the innocence from
which they Lave fallen : — for if there were not those calamaties in
the world, where could generous virtue find objects for its ex-
.ercises ? If there were not the wounded amongst our race, where
would be the opportunity for the good Samaritan to pour in the
healing balm? If there were no poor to be cared for, where
would be the opportunity to indulge, under Christian influences,
the impulses of our heart, that make it so delightful to contribute,
and especially when in deep distress, to the consolation of our fel-
low beings ? Were we to be wisely guided by those rules which
are to be deducted from the moral teachings of the Saviour, the
earth would seem to be again a Paradise. Then there would
be moderation in rulers, because they would know that just in pro-
portion as their power is augmented and is bestowed for a particu-
lar purpose, in conformity with divine law, so their responsibility
is multiplied. Then the laws would be made in the spirit of Chris-
tian justice, and though not always perfect, yet the intention of the
legislator to make them so would be apparent. Then law would
have a moral sanction, and obedience would be the dictate not
of feai-, but of an abiding sense of duty, truth and rectitude. But,
beloved brethren, I have dwelt sufficiently, I trust, on this topic, to
make it evident that whatever of political liberty is enjoyed by
men — • whatever increase of popular freedom is discoverable —
whatever progress of equality is manifest, must .all be traced
to the influence of the religion of Christ. And in our own
country, and under our own government, those blessings being so
common, we are likely sometimes tp forget them. Who can be
so blind as not to perceive the obligations which we owe to the
teachings of our Redeemer ? Here we have the sublime spectacle
of a people at once its own subject and its sovereign ! Oh ! how
impoi-tant it is that we should act in accordance with the teachings
of the Saviour in the text, that he who would be flrst should be
the servatit of all ! In a Country like this, where every man is in-
vested with a portion of the government, how should he be admon-
ished in the exercise of his prerogative, by the reflection that even
for the vote which he gives he will have to render an account — not
to his constituents alone — that account is sometimes easily settled
— but to a just and all-seeing God, who probes his motives to their
very depth ! In a country like this, in which we have had the benefit
of one great man, who approached in the order of social and poli-
SY2 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
lical excellence as near obedience to the Saviour's precejit as man
could approach, oh ! how important is it that his example should be
kept before our mind ! And how natural is it to believe that a
country for which God raised up so distinguished, so singular, so
unapproachable a public deliverer, is to be worthy of its origin, and
that its destiny may become itself the medium of difi'using benedic-
tions upon the whole himian race !
At this moment another character in the world's history rises up
before my recollection, and the contrast which he presents to him to
■whom I have just alluded impresses me with a painful interest. On
the one hand I behold the deliverer of his country, awaiting her
summons, undergoing many sacrifices for her, yet with a modesty
and dignity that make his life an example to warriors and statesmen,
a kind of solitary biography in the history of the human race — ■
something like the very creation of the world, that can ha\e nothing
to compare with it — I see him again in the fullness of his triumph"
and his renown, bearing his bi'ight and victorious sword, to return
its^handle to that loved mother whom he had saved, and whose
chains he had broken. 'He cuts off, as far as depended on him, all
the prospects that would have been so dazzling to the eye of others.
The hour had arrived ; his moral triumph is complete. There is an
example which should ever be familiar — engraven upon the fleshy
tablets of every American heart ! On the other hand, I behold a
leadership almost similar in its origin, but in its career how different,
and in its end how disastrous ! With the example of General Wash-
ington before him, you saw, during a revolution in a European em-
pire, a soldier undistinguished, except by the hidden force of his
own genius — without hereditary claims — without any of those early
manifestations of singular talent which should have attracted the
eyes of his country, seeking deliverance — but, by impulses which I
need not describe, springing, as it were, at a single bound, from the
soldier's tent to the throne of a hundred kings. On that throne, is ,
it his country that he serves ? Is he disposed to minister to others
— to abridge the extent of his own power and greatness ? No ; his
career is like the flight of a meteor, astonishing the up-turned eyes
of the world ; but it was brief as it was brilliant and glaring ; and
when I behold this same man also resigning his sword and taking
leave of his generals, at Fontainbleau — oh ! what a contrast to the
man who bequeathed to this Republic the legacy of his example, only
less valuable than the inheritance of freedom which he won. The
European general disappeared from the theatre of his exploits amid
the regrets of few, and the censures of many ; his triumphs had been
accompanied by the cries, and his downfall was pursued by almost
the curses, of the son-less mothers of France, whose growing pro-
geny he had torn from their sides, one after the other, as they be-
came able to bear a weapon of death to the fleld of contest. I behold
him at last in a condition that moves humanity; an eagle as he was,
but now, with crushed pinions and broken wings, chained to a soli-
tary reck in the ocean, and left, cruelly left, to expire as no eagle
" KIEWAN." 5^3
should have been allowed to die. What a contrast between the two,
and what stronger exemplification need be adduced to prove to you,
that if a inan wonld serve his country, his fellow-men, if he would
procure to himself the highest enjoyment of which his own nature is
capable, he will be more studious of the comforts, rights and inter-
ests of others than of.' his own. And let us all remember that, if we
would serve our country and our kind, we must seek direction from
the source of light and truth ; that we must trim our lamp of duty
at the sun of righteousness. If we trust to any other guidance, we
shall inevitably err, reaping disappointment to ourselves, probably,
and inflicting injury on those whom we receive credit for being dis-
posed to serve.
I fear that I have trespassed on your patience ; but I ha^•e had no
means of reckoning how time has passed. Yet every part, almost,
of these observations might itself furnish matter for a long discourse.
I cannot conclude, however, without making my profound acknowl-
edgments for the kindness which prompted the thought, and the
honor conferred upon me in carrying it out,' of requesting me, all
unprepared as I have been, to address you from this place. Nor
can I withhold my sincere acknowledgments for the patient attention
with which you have listened to the remarks that I have offered ;
and now I would breathe a prayer to God, that he will preserve you,
and that you, above all, to whom the nation and the world look
witli so much confidence, may be guided in your deliberations by
the Spirit of God ; that you may be enlightened where light is ne-
cessary, and swayed in your judgment in favor of those decisions
which will at once promote the glory of our common Father, and
the interests of this great and growing country, whose destinies may
exercise hereafter so important an influence upon the nations of the
earth.
BISHOP HUG-HES— "KIRWAN."
To the Editor of the Freemaris Journal :
Deae Sir — I see a certain work announced, and much lauded
in several of the newspapers, entitled " Kirwan's Letters to Bishop
Hughes." I have not read these letters, though I have twice at-
tempted to do so. Why they were addressed to me I cannot com-
prehend. It is said by some who probably know and care as little
about the matter as I do, that the author of " Kirwan's Letters to
Bishop Hughes" is a certain Mr. Murray, a Presbyterian clergy-
man of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. It is of little consequence
whether this be so or not. The writer proclaims himself to be a
countryman of mine, and froni intrinsic evidence, which a glance
at his letters is sufficient to fm-nish, I fear his statement in this be-
half is but too true. He must charge it to a lingering affection for
Old Ireland, our common mother, if I take the .liberty of saying
that I would rather he had been any body else's countryman. But
674 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
there is no remedy. Ireland, happily, has but few such sons as he,
and over what she wonld regard as their ingratitude, there is left
to her but the melancholy privilege of shedding a mother's tear
for the waywardness, in this instance, of a remote and erring child.
In the ingenious sophistry of maternal affection, she would, no doubt,
frame excuses for him, in that he withdrew his young limbs from
those chains that have been riveted on her for centuries — in that
her domestic misfortunes caused him to be snatched from her bo-
som, and consigned to foreign matrons who, albeit most charitably
disposed toward the boy, loved not his mother. In the charity of
her affection she could forgive him all that might be attributable
to the mere accidents of his youth, but her heart would feel an
additional pang if she were to know that any- son of hers, far be-
yond the western horizon that bounds her vision, could be so un-
true to her and to himself as in the maturity of his years to make
a boast of his apostacy, and rejoice in the calamities of his child-
hood.
Of myself, so far as I have been able to read him, " Kirwan" has
spoken in terms of personal I'espect. He professes to regard me
as a man of talents, of whom even Ireland need not be ashamed.
He has no sympathy with those ,men who, a few years ago, at-
tempted to bear me down by the rudeness of their assault. In all
this " Kirwan" does honor to himself; but when, on the other-
hand, in order to damage the church he has forsaken, he imputes
to me a want of sincerity in my belief and profession of the Cath-
olic faith, he does great injustice to the generous instinct of his
Irish nature, and betrays only the bad effects of his Presbyterian
training. The insinuation is, that being a man of talents like him-
self, I must see the pretended errors of the Catholic Church, as he
does ; that I have a public part to sustain, and that I sustain it, irre-
spective of the better light which he supposes I must have, as a
private individual. This is a very injurious imputation. It de-
stroys, in my mind, the value of any courtesy which he may have
intended to use toward me personally.
I know not by what right " Kirwan" could have indulged in this
strange speculation ; but it suggests to me an idea, which may, or
may not, be well founded. We all know that Atheists, for in-
stance, seem impelled by some paramount interior law of their
being to speak of religion as if it was any concern of theirs. We
know that those who have renounced the Catholic faith seem gov-
erned by the same law, in reference to the communion which they
have forsaken, and a little insight of the human heart, confirmed
by the testimony of persons who have gpne through the melan-
choly experience, will sufficiently account for what would other-
wise seem inexplicable. The Protestant who enters the Church,
by the increase of his belief, fills up a void in his heart, and is af-
terward more engaged with the fullness of faith which he has re-
ceived, than with the vacuity he has left behind. But when the
transition is in the other direction, as in " Kirwan's" case, the mind
"kiewan." 575
becomes engaged in the unnatural attempt to expel from itself the
substance of faith, and to satisfy itself, instead, with emptiness of
negative belief. Such minds, in spite of their efforts, must live, in
a certain sense, on the old stock of their religious convictions, even
by combating what they cannot altogether destroy.
Onr Protestant; friends have rejoiced abundantly in the occasional
fall of some unhappy priest of our communion. These were gen-
erally unfortunate men before their transition, and after struggling
by a process such as we have referred to, for years, we find m.iny
of them returning again, and with tears acknowledging that, their
apostacy was but the act of passion ; that they did not disbelieve
the Church, but were angry with her ; that their writing against
her had a double object, to gratify their resentment, and if possi-
ble to wear out the convictions of her teachings from their troubled
breasts. Whether '' Kirwan's" case is analogous, it is not for me to
say. But, at all events, I protest against his .Tpplying to me any
unworthy test with which his own consciousness of motives may,
or may not, have made him familiar.
The object of " Kirwan's" letters is to show the reasons why he
left the Catholic Church, and the reasons why he cannot return.
Certainly, he is at liberty to write on any subject, and give his rea-
sons, although the public never asked for them, so far as I know ;
nor is it, to Catholics especially, of the least importance whetljer he
returns or not. He would not have been missed, and even if he
had, the Church has been amply compensated, in the accession of
very numerous and distinguished Protestant clergymen, both in
Europe and America. For his own sake alone has the question of
his leaving or returning of the smallest consequence. Yet his let-
ters appear to have attracted some attrition, which is to be as-
cribed not to any novelty in the pretended argument, but to a cer-
tain sprightliness of style in assailing the doctrines of the Catholic
Church, which renders them a pleasing contrast to the filthy vol-
umes that have been written on the same side and on the same
subject. It is even said that the writer has secured for them a
portion of public attention by the fact of publishing the name of
Bishop Hughes, and concealing the name of the writer. Be all
this as it may, they have attracted some notice, and it is not un-
reasonable to suppose that many Protestants who have read them
would be disposed to hear what might be said on the other side
of the question. Under this view of the case, I propose to pub-
lish a series of letters in your Journal, on the same great topics
which " Kirwan" has discussed — and whereas he has published
reasons for having left the Catholic Church, and for refusing to
return, the object of my letters will be to show that no Catholic
ought to forsake his church, and that all Protestants who have zeal
for their salvation ought to enter her communion with as little de-
lay as possible.
This being the object of my letter it will be quite unnecessary
for me to refer 1o the language, or the order and distribution of
576 AKCHBISHOP HtrtiHES.
the subjects by " Kirwan." In fact, I will use his letters, not as the
cause, but as an occasion which I will take advantage of, for the
purpose of giving those among our Protestant friends, who may
desire to be informed on the subject, an opportunity of making up
their minds on the relative strength of the arguments for and
against the Catholic religion. The widely extended circulation of
your paper will bring what I shall write immediately under the eyes
of both Catholic and Protestant readers in different parts of the
country. Neither is it unreasonable, that such a series of letters
should be furnished at the present time ; however much I may regret
chat the work is not to be undertaken by some one having less occupa-
tion and more capacity to do it justice than myself. The relative posi-
tion of the Catholic and Protestant Churches, at the present time, is
one of deep interest to. earnest and reflecting minds among all par-
ties. Since the event commonly called the Reformation, there has
perhaps been no period when the Catholic religion was looked upon
with so little disfavor by those unhappily separated from her com-
munion, as the present. Much ignorance, and much prejudice, no
doubt, still prevails among them ; and if we see an uneasiness of
mind, an aimost general condition of unsettled convictions in refer-
ence to matters of belief; if we witness a yearning after something
fixed and stable in doctrine ; a desire for such a course of events as
might lead to general unity among Christians — every good man
should labor to encourage these dispositions, and point out the only
means by which the object aimed at can ever be attained. It is ad-
mitted by maay of themselves that Protestantism, whatever it may
be as a theory, has not come up in practice to the anticipation of
its founders. In Germany it has allowed millions to glide through
its feeble restraints and, pass into Rationalism and Infidelity, and
this, too, not by opposing its principles, but by applying a bolder
logic to their consequences. In England it has perverted the ancient
resources of the poor, and permitted them to sink into a lamentable
condition of ignorance on the subject of religion and of moral de-
pravity. Working within itself it has given rise to doubts and di-
visions until the names of its sects have almost become legion.
And it is only in contemplating these its results, that many sin-
cere men desire earnestly that in the providence of the Almighty,
some remedy might be found, which would arrest and repair the
present disorder. From all this, it is but reasonable to suppose
that a treatise which should set forth almost in any form the relative
grounds of the two systems of religion, without any of the acer-
bity of mere controversy, would be hailed by a large portion of the
public. This is what I shall aim at accomplishing.
For a week or two I shall be absent from the city, and as soon
after my return as possible I shall commence, in the form of letters,
a statement and review of what may be deemed most important on
this great question.
* JOHN, Bishop of New York
Decembek, ISo'Z.
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIO CHtlBCH. 577
The Importance of being in Communion with Christ's One,
Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, by Rt. Rev. John
Hughes, D. D.
LETTER I.
Deak Reader :
1. Allow me to consider you, as one of those, not in communion
wilh the Church, to whom these letters are addressed ; and, let me
entreat of you, to meditate on their contents, as if they were writ-
ten for yourself alone. They are dictated, on my part, by a spirit
of charity,^ so far as I can be conscious of motives ; for I should
have but little hope of Heaven's pardon, if I were capable of wri-
ting with any other intention ' than that of bringing you to the
knowledge and profession of the whole truth of Christianity in this
life — as the appointed means of conducting you to the enjoyment
of eternal happiness in the better, life which is to come.
2. I do not mean to notice those trivial writings which are pub-
lished from time to time, outside of, and against, the Communion
of the Calholic Church. The effect on your mind, if they produce
any, is to prejudice you against a faith whjch you do not believe ;
and to unsettle, perplex, and confuse you in reference to what you
do believe. Besides this, the means employed to produce these re-
sults in your mind and feelings, are generally unworthy of Chris
tian writers. If you are at all familiar with the style and manner
of these anti-Catholic writings, you must have perceived that they
are remarkable for levity ; that a sneer, a sarcasm, a little anecdote,
a stroke of ridicule, is deemed by their authors a sufficient argu-
ment for that world of readers on whom they intend to make an im-
pression. On Catholics, let me assure you, they make no impres-
sion whatever, except it be one of regret and pity. Wh.at they
put forth of real objection to the Catholic religion has been said —
and better said — more than two hundred years ago, and has been
often and often repeated since ; but this also has been often and often
refuted. So that now, there is absolutely nothing new in the way
of objection to the real doctrines of the Church.
In this statement of the case, dear reader, do not accuse me of
an attempt to mislead you. That whole outburst of pretended ar-
gument with which the Reformers, as they are now almost ironi-
cally called, astonished the Christian world, was leisurely reviewed,
and logically, as well as theologically refuted, .by (riot to name oth-
ers) the brother Wallembur.gs, Bossuet, Beccani, Bellarmine of the
Society of Jesus, and others. Since that period, there have, of
course, been many names appended to the list, on both sides; but
the question in dispute has ever remained the same ; " Is the Cath-
olic religion the same which Christ revealed to that Society of men who
adhered to His teaching when He was on earth ?"
Writers in the Church — that is in the Society of men, originally,
37
578 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
constituted as ubove — have always maintained the affirmative an-
swer to this great question; writers out oi the Church, with raire
exceptions, have always asserted the contrary. Little if any thing
new can be said at this time, on either part. The writers outside
the Church have, individually, their own mode of presenting the
objection; the writers within have theirs of sustaining the defense.
In presenting the case and discussing the question, as I propose to
do, in the following letters, I shall, whenever I deem it right, re-
peat the arguments of those who have preceded- me, using occar
sionally, if that be possible, some of my own — and presenting the
whole' in my own individual way of viewing it. In doing «o, I
shall endeavor not to use a single word or epithet not essential to
the truth and force of my argument, which may give you pain.
My fixed resolution, with the grace of God^, is to employ no such
word. But if, through human weakness, I shall be found wanting
at any time to this resolution, I crave your indulgence in advance.
3. When Christ came on the earth He did not undertake to re-
fute, but on the contrary, professed to confirm what God* had re-
vealed, and what had been believed by the Patriarchs and the Jew-
ish people. ■ He did not come to oppose, but fulfill, what , had been
divinely foretold by the Prophets.
He came to be the perfect", but still, intermediate, term of that
true, divine religion which, from the fall of the human race, had
had his type, and symbol of anticipation, in the present ; its sub-
stance, in reality, in thefutvre. The same events on which the hope
of true believers rested before- tiie coming of Christ; constitute
the groundwork of faith, for all true believers; after the accom-
plishment of His mission, on the earth — so that the coming of the
Redeemer, as He came, was not less essential to confirm and seal
the truth of the Jewish religion, until then, than it was to lay the
everlasting foundation of His own especial Church. • But there is
this difference, that whereas Christ was only typically present to
the Jews, before His coming, He is eternally and substantially pres-
ent with Christians, in His espousals with His Church in the sac-
ramental institutions with which He enriched and adorned her —
institutions provided for the spiritual life of her children, the guar-
dianship and administration of which are hers alone.
4. Pay attention, dear reader, I pray you, to what this; blessed
Saviour said and did, while on earth. This at least cannot be ob-
jected to by writers outside the pale of the Catholic Communion.
On the contrary, they would unite with me in recommending you
to study the words and works of the Redeemer^-and at this stage
of the investigation, it is important that you should do so. Now,
in doing this, you will observe that our Divine Lord, in' addition to
the signs of the Prophecy recorded in the Old Testament, and as
fulfilling a portion of them, wrought miracles, to attest the divinity
of His character and mission; Having established this, by indis-
putable evidence. He entered on the functions of His public office,
as a Teacher from God. He addfesse-l the people of His nation ;
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECII. BIO
6ome believed, others refused to believe. The believers became
His disciples. Among them were some whom He had called, by a
more specific and personal invitation, to follow Him. Stilli they
remained. confounded in the ranks of discipleship until He distin-
guishes them from the rest by a higher order; of vocation, and con-
stitutes them Apostles. He speaks to the multitude in parables, but
to them He makes known the mysteries of His kingdom. They
were .<4^(is<?e«, chosen and selected by Him, to carry His words and
works to the ends of the earth, and perpetuate tliem through all
ages, until 1 the consummationof time., So long as He remained
on earth /Aey shared His lessons and hung on His lips, in common
with the rest of the " multitude," but when He should return to
His Father, they were to be His teachers, sent to all nations. To
qualify them for this, He kept them more around His person, as
friends and intimates. Much of His discourses, as recorded by
the Evangelists, is addressed to fl/iera- especially and exclusively.
He thus distilled, day by day, His divine instructions into their
hearts, and it w.as not without a providential piirpose that He per-
mitted them to exhibit such vagueness of belief, such dullness of
comprehension ; as showing the natural (Weakness of human powers
to understand divine things — until the day of Pentecost — when
the HolyGrhost kindled the fire of the Apostleship in their souls,
and by its light the natural darkness of their understanding in re-
gard to heavenly things was removed and all truth, whatsoever
their Master had said to them, was brought to their minds.^
5. But twelve Apostles, invested with equal authority, might dis-
turb the order and defeat the object which their Lord had ap-
pointed them to establish and secure. His kingdom was to be one —
united in itself; His sheep were to be comprised in ^'- one fold " un-
der "o«e Shepherd " aiid not under twelve. Accordinglyj out of the
twelve, being all Apostles, and, as such, equal in dignity and author-
ity. He sielected one— Peter, and, in addition to the Apostleship,
which he enjoyed like the others, conferred on him. S])eciul, singular
and individual prerogative and power, which had not been conferred
on the other eleven, either singularly or collectively ; and as onr
Lord had said many things to the multitude atJarge,and some
things to the Apostles alone, so also He addressed many instruc-
tions to the Apostles as such, including Peter, and something, to Peter
alone, in which the others had no direct lot or part. Satan, he said,
desired them (all) that he might sift them, as wheat, but He prayed
for Peter, that his faith might not fail ; and that he, being once con-
Terted,' should confirm his byethren. T'he efficacy of this prayer
of the Man-God, has been realized in His Church, from the days of
Cephas himself, through the whole line of his successors, down to
the exercise of the chief Apostleship, in our own times,, by the great
and illustrious Pius IX. , i ^
6. This epitome of the foundation of the Church, ought to be to
you, dear reader, a subject of earnest investigation. It involves the
great outline of her spiritual organissation, her outward policy of
580 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
union, so to call it, as appointed by Christ. All were believers and
professors of His doctrines. Some appointed teachers thereof, to
preserve it for those who believed already, and preach it to those who
did not — and one, for the sake of unity and order, to be supreme
of the " some" teachers, and over the " all" believers. Nearly two
thousand years have since rolled by, and yet this is still the Church's
form. Other institutions have, meanwhile, taken their rise, run their
career, of a few centuries, at most ; have flourished, and faded, and
passed away ; whilst she, the Church, has retained, even in her ex-
tended relations " in the ends of the earth," her pristine form and
organization as receivecT from her Divine Founder, or, as the
fathers would express it, as she came forth from the wounded
side of her Spouse and Lord of the Cross.
7. As to form, order, subordination, the Church was complete at
the moment of His ascension into Heaven. But as to the divine
economy, by which He would kindle up the elements of her exist-
ence into spiritual life and activity, she was not meant to have
been complete until the fiery tongues of the Holy Spirit should de-
scend on the Apostles, to light the inextinguishable lamps of their
mission and ministry. From that day, all the members of the
Church began to understand, in a sense far higher and holier than
" flesh and blood had revealed," their mutual, subordinate, and har-
monious relations, one to another. Such is the outward model
of spiritual government appointed by our Blessed Saviour for the
purpose of preserving certainty of doctrine, and unity of spirit,
among the members of" the Society founded on the belief of His
divine revelations to men.
8. This Society is His Church. All His best promises are made
to her. She is the " pillar and ground of truth." Her Divine
Buildel" laid her foundations on the.rock of Peter, and " the gates of
hell shall not prevail against her." To her ministers, as His rep-
resentatives, He gave " the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven."
Whoever should hear theni should hear Him" whoever should not
hear them, should bo as "a heathen and a publican." They should
" teach all nations," and He would be " with them all days, even to
the consummation of the ages." They preached his doctrines to
a world buried in sin, in prejudice and error ; and as often as the
word of life took effect, and began to grow in the heart of any one,
it was necessary that he should profess his belief andi seek admission
into the existing society of the Church by the gate thereof — Christian
baptism. Being once entered he was made partaker of all the full-
ness of truth, and all the treasures of grace, which Christ has pro-
vided in the Church and not out of her, for the sanctificalion of
those who would be saved.
9. You may have been told that the Church became a/oZs« guide,
and thus fell away from the purpose which Christ instituted her to
, fulfill and accomplish. But although such statements may have
made an im})ression on your mind, yet, on reflection, you will per-
ceive that this is not only improbable, but that, if Christ is a true
LETTERS OS THE CATHOLIC CHtTRCH. 581
Teacher, it is impossible. We, poor mortals, have some knowledge
oi thmgs past, but the knowledge of things future is wisely con-
cealed from us. Not so, however, are we to judge of our Divine
Redeemer. As the God-Man, all things were present to His mind.
The Church and her teachings, through all generations then future,
were necessarily known to Him. If she were to be, at any time,
an erring Church, He, as a Divine Instructor, should not have re-
ferred His disciples to her guidance and communion. That He did
so refer them is indisputable ; so that if you believe in Christ you
must believe in His Church, and if you reject His Church it must
be because you have not entire confidence in His words and promises.
That persons who do not believe in Him should adopt this line of ar-
gument would not surprise me ; but that it should be taken up and
urged by those who profess to believe in Him, although out of the
communion of the Church, is indeed an astonishing and painful con-
sideration. It is the sanie as if they said, " Christ directs you to
be guided by the Church, and in order to aftbrd divine security for
your faith. He has promised to be with the ministers of that Church all
days, forever. But we tell you not to put confidence in His words ; to
have nothing do with His Church ; to fly from her communion, if
you belong to it ; and to keep away if you do not."
10. If you are told that you have the inspired written word of
God, for your guidance, you still cannot dispense with the Church.
For the value of the Holy Scriptures is not in the material volume^
the paper and binding, but in the sestsb which the Holy Ghost
meant to convey in the sacred text. If you are told that the sense
is plain and obvious, you will not believe the assertion. For, if
that were true, there would not be so many sects, nor such endless dis-
putes about its meaning ; and those who tell you that the sense of
Scripture is plain and obvious, are themselves living proofs of the
contrary, since they cannot agi-ee among themselves, and are con-
sequently so reduced, even in discharging the functions of Chris-
tian teachei's, that they dare not pronounce except with a faltering
and uncertain voice, on the very thing which they tell you is obvi-
ous ! They give their opinion, indeed ; but with befitting modesty
they acknowledge that they have nothing more than opinion to
give. Now, ill the communion of the Church the case is very dif-
ferent. The Church dates from the day of Pentecost. She is older
than the Scriptures of the New Testament. Their meaning was
written in characters of divine and everlasting faith, on her heart,
and in her soul, before the first of the Evangelists took up his
inspired pen. You might as well say that a man could not com-
prehend the meaning of his own manuscript, without the interpre-
tation of it by his own readers, often his enemies, as to say that the
Church should or could be ignorant of the sense of Holy Writ.
The Church is a body as well as a soul. The Scriptures (I speak
here of the New Testament) are a transcript from her living faith
committed to parchment for the edification of the outward body.
The writers of the sacred text were her members and pastors, the
582 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
readers were her pastors and members. To the latter, A«r. aggre-
gate inspiration, us a divinely appointed living teacher, was sufficient
security for the right interi:)retation of their meaning. She knew
those by whom they were written ; she knew those to whom they
were addressed ; she knew even the handwriting of their authors ;
she knew that they were but transcripts from them of faith inscribed
on her own living soul, by the Redeemer ; she knew their meaning
and has never ceased to proclaim it. In short, so conspicuous is
Christ's fidelity to His Church, that by an overruling Providence
you are indebted to her for the very Scriptures which " some wrest
to their own destruction ;" in such a manner that without Aer tes-
timony, the authenticity and inspiration of the New Testament, and
even the Old, would be to you, out of the Church as much a subject
of doubt and disputation as the meaning of the sacred text itself.
11. I pray you, dear reader, to reflect seriously on these considera-
tions. I bring them forward in my first letter, and number them by
paragraphs, because in subsequent pages, it will be necessary for
you, and perhaps for me too, to refer to them.
In religion there are but two principles of guidance for the direc-
tion of the human mind--authority and reason. Reason is the'
boasting guide of those who, out of the Church, " search the Scrip-
tures" for themselves. And whereas reasons is not competent to
the investigation of spiritual and heavenly things, it happens as a
necessary consequence that, out of the Church, religion has degen-
erated into mere human opinion. In the Church, on the other hand,
authority is the principle — evert the authority of God ; speaking di-
regtly by His Son and by the Church, which He founded with
guarantee of His own abiding veracity. The members of the
Church, therefore, have all the security which the attributes of God
can furnish ; so that so long as Christ cannot deceive, so long is it
impossible for them to be mistaken. Hence, the various articles of
our Saviour's doctrine are believed by them with divine faith, and
with that supernatural certainty which the heavenly gift of faith
creates in the soul. This gift may be weaker or stronger ; it may
vary in degree, but in its nature and principle, it is eternally the
same. Its language is Uttered in this wise : " The Son of God re-
vealed this doctrine, requiring that it should be believed ; and the
oryan appointed by him, the ' Witness in Jerulsalem and in Samaria,
and to the uttermost parts of the earth, — the ever-living and ever-
teaching Church, ATTESTS THE FACT." Here is a basis of faith which
is not reason, but is rational. How different the process, onto/
the Church; "Christ revealed this doctrine, if my interpretation of-
such and such passages of Scripture be correct." In every article
of Christian belief, out of the communion of the Cat nolic Church,
that cruel "if" is necessarily expressed or understood. In the one
case, the thing to be believed is a fact, susceptible of proof, as
such ; in the other, it is a hypothesis, essentialy involving that
element of uncertainty, which lea\es the mind to be tossed about
by every wind of doctrine.
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 583
12. Pardon me, dear reader, if again I solicit your deep attention
to the several consecutive paragraphs of this letter. Are you one
of those who have religious opinions ? one of those who are will-
ing to endorse the teachings of Christ, so far, and only so far as
they agree with your interpretation of the Holy Scriptures ? If so,
lose not a moment ; appeal forthwith to God, by earnest prayer,
and a strong cry for the light and the life of better things. You
know that without faith it is impossible to please God; and you will
not rejoice at the conduct of a man who boasts that he has shipwreck-
ed_that faith, and that he is now floating at large on the ocean of
opinions and uncertainty. It may be that you are called to occupy
in Christ's kingdom, first on earth, and then in heaven, the place
which he has left vacant by defection. But at any rate, as regards
faith within the Church, and free opinions without, I shall have
more to say in my next. Meantime, you will not be offended if,
without knowing you, I pray that God may bring you to the true
light ; and that you may be "added to the number" of those who
will be saved.
LETTER ir.
Dear Reader :
13. You have seen from what has already been said, that the
faith of the first disciples of our Lord was founded on His miracles.
You have seen that by thfe Divine appointment these first believers
became a distinct Society, and in proportion as the preaching of the
Gospel made new converts, they were aggregated to the coram union
of that Society, which is the Church of Christ. It was founded on His
word ; it Avas organized by His wisdom ; it was the depository, of
His institutions ; the witness of His doctrines, and the organ of His
Divine ministry, through all time. From that day it became easy
for the simple-minded and the learned, who, from the preaching of
the Gospel, should be imbued with a general belief of Christ's
Divine mission to distinguish the Society through which the fullness
of His truth and the plentitude of His sanctifying grace were to be
received and appropriated. The organization of the Church was
appointed for this especial purpose. If He designated Apostles to be
the dispensers of His- mysteries, as well as the preachers of His
word ; if He ordained that one should be supreme in authority over
all, the lambs and the sheep, of His flock, it was not their personal
advantage, but it was for the common good of all th^ members of
which this His mystical body is composed.
14. .The Church thus divinely instituted as an organized external
visible Society was to remain so forever. Such a Society must be
essentially and at all times visible ; and among the illusions which pre-
vail out of the Church, there is, perhaps, not one more at variance
with the reason of man or the varacity of God than that which as-
684 AKCHBISIIOP HUGHES.
serts the Church to have become invisible. It is the same as jf you
were told that a ship is always afloat on the ocean, but on one im-
porl ant occasion she was, during a few centuries, beneath the waters,
although she afterward rose to the surface with fresh rigging and
a novel crew. The assertion betrays its own absurdity. They admit
that the Church> of Christ is perpetual ; that it cannot perish, but
that it has been at times invisible. If it was invisible, by what ■
Tight of common sense can they assert its existence, unless by the
right of the sentinels placed at the Saviour's sepulchre, who tes-
tified as witnesses to an event, and that they were asleep when the
event occurred ? But on this point it is unnecessary for me to in-
sist. The outward preaching of the Gospel; the promulgation
from time to time of ecclesiastical discipline ; the conversion of
new provinces and nations from century to century during eigh-
teen hundred years ; the succession of pastors ; the ordination of
new levites for the recruiting Sanctuary ; the holding of council's,
b.oth general and provincial; the suffering martyrs ; the founding
of churches ; the defections of heretics ; the contentions against
principalities and powers ; the disputes — even the scandals of her
members — all attest the visible perpetual existence of the Church
as a continuation of the same Society instituted by our Blessed Lord
himself Consequently the promises made of His abiding presence
with that Society by its Di\ine Pounder have been fulfilled, and in
that case you are bound, as you believe in Him, and value your sal-
vation, to seek life through her, or else His promises have not
been fulfilled, and then it would be, not the Church which deceived,
but the Redeemer himself! — a thought which would be too blas-
phemous for you to entertain.
15. It is manifest from this that no outward society can claim to be
the Church of God, which received its form and oi'ganization at Efny
period subsequent to the days of Christ; hence, one of the signs of
the Church is, that she is Apostolical. Any society depending on a
subsequent date for its origin necessarily stamps itself spurious and
counterfeit. Its doctrines must essentially be different from those of
thp true Church ; and being different must essentially be novel doc-
trines, unknown to the elder Society, and beitig novel must essen-
tially be false ; unless that it be pretended that a new or another
Christ descended from heaven to reve.al them as contradictions to ,
what our Christ had revealed. Here then, dear reader, is a striking
attribute which God has made a peculiar and exclusive sign of His
Church on the earth. Eead over again what has just been said.
Study and reflect on the argument, and see its bearing on your
own condition. The true Church began and wasconstituted an out-
ward visible Society in the days of Christ and His Apostles. When
did the Society of the so pretended Church to which yo« belong take
its rise, receive its form, and commence its functions as a visible
Society ? It must have been many centuries too late. The doc-
trines on which it is founded must have been, at the period of its
ojmmencement, new doctrines, and therefore necessarily unreveale(i
LETTEES ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 585
by that Saviour whom we adore. This test is universal. Heresies
have existed almost from lihe origin of the Church, but their au-
thors separated from her communion, and such persons as they had
been able to in^•olve in their secession, have endeavored to form a
separate church on a model of their own invention, and framed it
with a view to give greater extension and development to the errors
into which they had fallen.
iG. Again, the Church must be essentially om«, as a visible Soci-
ety. The reason of this is obvious. God, who originally revealed
her doctrines is One, truth is necessarily one, and the Society founded
by our Divine Saviour, and imbued with the belief of that truth,
which is one, and which Christ had revealed to His Church, must
necessarily produce unity of faith among her members. As long as
they abide in the truth of Christ's teaching, there cannot be divis-
ions or antagonisms of belief. If there be divisions on tenets of
Divine Revelation, it will be because one section or other will have
departed from the truth and embraced error. The part so embrac-
ing error will necessarily cease to belong to the Society which had
been founded on the belief of the truth. The defection may be as
great as it was in consequence of the Arien heresy ; the defection may
diminish the numbers of those who, until then, had been included in
the communion of the Church, but the unity of that Church, that is, of
those who remain faithful to what had been the common belief of
all until then, is by no means broken up or disturbed. A diseased
limb has been stricken from the tree ; but the tree itself, with its
root and trunk, its flowers and frnit, remains as before, except in
so far as the spread of its boughs have been outwardly diminished
by the amputation of the diseased part. The test of this unity in
the visible Society of the Church will be the belief of the same ten-
ets of religion, originally revealed by Christ, and witnessed by
the Church herself In this respect, whilst the Catholic Commun-
ion is supposed to number at least two hundred millions, of all
nations and tribes and peoples, there is no division among them, nor
has there been from the beginning of Christianity. And as the
rays of light which illumine oiir globe are traceable back to the sun
from which they emanate so the faith of each individual in the
whole Church, is identical with each and all the other membersi,in
regard to the tenets of Divine Revelation made known by the Son
of God. All believe in, and have recourse to the same sacramental
institutions of the Saviour. All recognize and revere the same or-
ganization of pastorship, the same ou« priesthood, the same one
episcopacy of Christ, represented and vicariously exercised by so
many throughout the world ; the same one individual primacy or-
dained by Christ, and conferred on Peter and his successor alone.
Such is now, and such has been, uninterruptedly for eighteen hun-
dred years, the unity of that visible Society, which is the Church
of Christ.
17. But there is another sign, still, by which you may distmguish
the Church from all other societies ; it is Universal or Catholic. It
586 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
is not universal in the sense of its being necessarily in all places of
the world, at all times. This was not the purpose of our iJedeemer.
But it is Catholic, because, 1st. The truth on which it is built is, by-
its own nature, essentially universal. The doctrines which our
Saviour revealed and taught the Church, being true when He ut-
tered them, were, and will be true in ail places, as well as in Jerusa-
lem; will be true through all time, and all eternity. 2d. Because
His commission to His Church was to make known to " all nations,"
through " all days," until " the end of the world." 3d. Because un-
der the commission its promulgation was not to be successfully im-
peded either by the rage of the Gentiles, the vain deliberation of
the people, nor the fruitless and combining assemblies of kings
and princes against the Lord and against His Christ. " All na-
tions" were the field of its operations. Its missionaries were not to
be effectually arrested in carrying the knowledge and means of re-
demption to our fallen race by any barrier ; neither the expanses of
ocean, nor the height of mountains, nor the dangers of travel,
nor the rigor of climate, nor the barbarism of savages, nor the cru-
elty of tyrants, could deter them from preaching the Gospel to
" every creature." 4th. The Church is called Catholic because, as
a matter of fact, she is spread throughout the entire world. As an
outward, visible Society, she is Apostolic in origin. One in faith.
Catholic in extension;
18. At all times she was and now is Holy. Nor do the bad lives
or scandalous morals of her individual members, or even some
times of her eminent pastors', destroy or diminish her rightful claim
to the attribute of sanctity. The reason is obvious. God does not
apply the coercive force. of Almighty Power either to bring men
into the communion of the Church, or to make them personally holy-
when they have entered. To those who are without He offers the
grace of vocation and of faith that they may believe and come in ; for
those who are within Christ has provided all the means and grace of
sanctification. But in neither case does He impart grace in such a
manner as to destroy the exercise of man's voluntary concurrence
and fi-ee co-operation. Hence, therefore, the sanctity of the Church
is by no means involved by the want of sanctity of some of its
members. For she is called Holy, because : 1st. Infinite holiness is
the essential attribute of her Blessed Founder. 2d. Because the
doctrines she received from Him, and which she preaches, are holy,
' 3d. Because Baptism, by which all men enter her communion,
cleanseth the soul of those who receive it with proper dispositions
from all that is opposed to Holiness. 4th. Because all her moral
teachings are conducive to the same end. 5th. Because the eflicacy.
of her sacraments, and above all the divine character of the sacri-
fice, which is her highest art of public worship, were instituted as
means of applying the merits of our Saviour's death for the sanc-
tification of her children.- 6th. Because, in, fine, whatever appears
evidence of eminent holiness ; the constancy of martyrs ; the courage
of confessors ; the purily of virgins ; the love of God ; a spirit of
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 587
Belf-imraoliition to promote the welfare of man, have distinguished,
and stiir distinguish millions of her members, and indicate, even in
the practical exhibition of it, her claim to be called Holy.
19. I might enlarge, dear reader, on this subject, but what I have
here said is perhaps sufficient for the present. I would only remark
before I proceed to other considerations, that so far as it has been
accomplished, the Catholic Church alone has reahzed the objects
for which Christianity was instituted. She alone converted Pagan
nations to the faith of Christ. For you well remember that large
portions both of Asia and of "Africa were made vocal by the preach-
ing of her messengers, and the canticles of her saints, ages before
the imposter of Mecca had raised the crescent of dominion or un-
sheathed the sword of extermination against her children. She had
converted those countries from Paganism to Christianity. You will
remember that all the Christian nations that have been converted,
in Europe or America, from Paganism to Christianity, were con-
verted by the efficacy of her Apostleship alone. You will remem-
ber that no other Christian association has ever been blessed of God
with a power to convert so much as one single Pagan nation to the
light of Divine truth. It may be said that the Sandwich Islands
are at the present moment an exception to the truth of what has
just been asserted. But the experiment here referred to is so in-
complete that it cannot be adduced as any exception. For, unless
travelers of unexceptionable character misrepresent the facts, tlie
population of those islands is rapidly wasting away, whilst the
wretched remains are said to have imbibed more of the vices than
the virtues of the Christians who have gone among them. ' So that,
as a general proposition, history attests the truth of what I have
just said.
20. Read them over and reflect seriously upon the subject that has
been treated, and the reasonings that have been adduced in the pre-
ceeding paragraphs of this letter. There is here presented to you
a brief outline, not only of the Church, but of those peculiar attri-
butes by which God -originally, and through all time, constituted
her a distinct, united, universal society, easily distinguishable from
all other associations calling themselves by her name. If those out-
ward tokens of her Divine identity through all ages should not at
first impress your mind as strongly as they will do when you shall
have reflected more upon them, it may not be amiss for you to
bring any other religious association to the test of comparison by
the standard. Did it receive its outward organization and visible
form from Christ and His Apostles when they were visible on the
earth ? If not, who had the right to usurp the functions of the
Redeemer ? What was its origin ? Again, is it united, even dur-
ing the period of its brief existence, as a religious society, in the
behef of its own original doctrines?. Are its members now united
in believing all the doctrines which the Society profess even at this
day? Are its principles calculated to hold its members in the spon-
taneous unity of truth ? Or rather, are they not calculated to divide
088 AECHBISIIOP HUGHES.
tliem into multiplicity of opiuions, Avithout its venturing to claim for
itself, even the consciousness of " what is truth ?" Has it, either
by its doctrine or its extension, any claim to call itself " Catholic,"
or universal ? Has it converted nations ? Has it furnished mar
tyrs ? Or, if it does claim such, were they martyrs (that is witnesses)
for the faith of Christ, or were they martyrs simply for their own
opinion ? As to the other test — Holiness, it is almost unnecessary
that I should make any remarks. Sanctity out of the Church is
judged by a very fallacious and very arbitrary standard. Nor
would I feel authorized to urge an uncharitable scrutiny into the
lives and conduct of indi\iduals for the purpose of eliciting an an-
wer to this question.
21. Neither is this necessary. Examine any one of these humanly
organized societies, which calls itself the Church, or a Church, or a
branch of a Church. Examine it, in the date of its origin ; in the
principle of its constitution ; in the character of its founders ; in
the mode of its propagation ; in the uncertainty fif its preaching ;
in the disputations among its members concerning its doctrines ; in
their divisions and sub-divisions ; in its dependence on human sup-
port ; in the vagueness and ambiguity, and fluotualions of its creed;
in the general sterility of its efibrts to discharge the functions, and
accomplish the purposes for which the One Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church was instituted, and it will be no difficult matter
for you to distinguish between the human imitation and the Divine
reality. The very names of these societies sufficiently determine
their character. They are sometimes called after individuals who
founded them — sometimes after the civil State, the Government of
which created or adopted them. Again, you will find them desig-
nated by some minor point of practice among early Christians, to
which they attach peculiar and paramount importance ; or by some
peculiarity in their ceremonies or mode or worship. Now, if you will
take the pains to trace back the historical thread of these societies
to their origin, you will find that in all cases, and without a soli-
tary exception, they were built on the mere opinions of their re-
spective founders. This statement may appear to you startling, at
first sight, but examine it strictly, and you will find it to be indis-
putably true.
22. They claim new revelation from God. Now, were there con-
nected with their origin, either a new Christ, or new miracles, or
new Apostles? What, then, was the basis of credibility on which
their new doctrines were founded ? Simply the opinion of the in-
dividual who discovered a new re.ading of the Holy Scriptures, and
succeeded in inducing others to strengthen that opinion by the en-
dorsement of their own. When these opinions became strengthened
-still more, by the approbation of a hirger number of persons,
the n'ext thing was to systema^ze them in a code, and reduce them
to a conventional formula, called a creed, articles of belief, confes-
sion of faith, etc. Here, then, was the platform which was to sup-
port the faith of the new church. No one, however, at the present
LETTEES ON THE CATHOLIC CIIUECH. 589
day, considers himself bound by these primitive formulas of secta-
rian profession. Articles, creeds, confessions of faith, are no longer
heard of, except when some unfortunate minister is under trial for
heresy, or in thoise countries where the civil government has made
the creed a portion of the laws of the land ; it may be said, indeed,
that the opinions of the creed, as expressed in the formularies, have
lost all authority, and that each individual is governed by his own
views, and not by theirs. This is decidedly consistent, for it would
have been absurd to have rejected the authority of the Cathohc
Church — to have emancipated human reason from the yoke oi faith
in her teachings, merely to bring it into slavish subjection to the
religious opinion of unauthorized men. Out of the Church there is
no consistency, under the principle alleged to justify the separation,
viz., that every one has a right to read the Scriptures and judge for
himself — except in the conduct of him who puts away all human
authority from between him and sacred text, reads it as often as
he will, forms his opinions from day to day, with the well understood
privilege of altering or abrogating them, as old light fades away, or
new light breaks in.
This process, dear reader, necessarily destroys what is most essen-
tial in the belief of Christ's teaching, viz., its certainty. His doc-
trines are presented to you in His Church as facts, and not as spec-
ulations. And out of His Church you cannot by possibility have
them guarantied as facts, but you must receive them as speculations
alone. Is not this an uneasy and unnatural state of the human
mind ? Do you not feel that your spirit yearns after some permanent
anchorage of Divine faith ? That it longs for some solid and aecure
resting place ? That it cannot be thus always on the wing, sustain-
ing its solitary flight in searching after truth through the boundless
regions of opinion ? Will it not at last be fain, like the dove of old,
to return with weary pinions, and drooping plumage, to the ark
from whence it went forth — enjoying freedom, indeed, but finding .
no repose.
23. But you say you have the Bible to fall back upon. That there, at
least, you may drink from the living fountain. Alas, dear reader, in
your present situation, you cannot derive from the perusal of the
Scriptures the benefit you anticipate. The true sense of the Scrip-
tures is one thing — ^your interpretation of that sense is quite an-
other. If you build your faith in Christ and your hopes of salvation
on your unaided interpretation of the Scriptures, you are still build-
ing not on the Saviour's teaching, but on your own fallible opinions
Of this, however, I will treat in my next.
590 ARCHBISHOP HFGHES.
LETTER III.
Deae Readee :
24. In the preceding letters your attention has been called to the
Church of Christ, to the outward form which she received from her
Divine Founder, and to those marks or features in her organization
which will enable you to distinguish her from all other religious so-
cieties. Enough lias been said on that subject. From the day of
her foundation to the present hour, she has never been without op-
ponents who have denied her doctrines, and wielded all the powers
of the human mind for the accomplishment of her overthrow. These
opponents have been called by different names in the different ages
through which she has passed. They were always loud in their de-
nunciations, subtle in their modes of assault, oftentimes formidable
in their banded associations. Many of them have long since passed
away, but as error is inexhaustible in its variety, others, with new
pretensions, have never failed to rise as successors in the work of op-
position. If you would learn the various names by which these combi-
nations of error have been known, you have but to read the list of the
sects and heresies which are found in the annals of ecclesiastical his-
tory. This opposition , began in the days of Christ himself, when
some were offended at his language, and exclaimed among them-
selves, " This is a hard saying and who can hear it ?" They walked
no more with his disciples, and placing these seceders at the head of
the list, you may trace the succession downwards from century to
century, until it may close with those last victims of a common de-
lusion, who a little while ago began to doubt the truth of the Bible,
because the world did not come to an end in the year 1846, as, ac-
cording to their notions, it should have done.
25. As I have already mentioned, there are but two principles of
guidance for the direction of the human mind in determining the
doctrine of revelation, and the true meaning of each tenet. These
are — authority and reason. The word authority is, as you know,
connected with the word author. Christ is the Author of Revela-
tion. We believe the fact of His having revealed it, because of the
authority of the Church as a living, perpetual witness, reaching
from the individual believer in all ages back to Christ himself. This
authority, in its human form, does not exclude whatever is excellent
in human reason, but represents it in its aggregate, functions, and
character. But the Divine element, which raises it above all other
orders of human testimony, is the fact that the Author of Revela-
tion identified Himself with His appointed witness, the Church, in
such a manner that the authority of the one is essentially implied
and exercised in the authority of the other. Hence the Catholic be-
lief, on all matters of revelation or of doctrine, is as firm and un-
wavering as in the work of God Himself, on which it is built. It is
therefore mot mere human persuasion of the truth of a proposition,
but it is Divine faith resting on the \eracity of God.
26. The principle which takes the place of this authority among
LETTEES ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 59i
sects out of the Church, is» the principle of private reason. Thus
the Wceders, in the days of our Lord, rejected His authoiity, and fol-
lowed their own private opinion, in determining to walk no more
with Tlim. Thus Ebion and Cerinthus rejected the authority of the
Apostles, and sought from their own individual opinion a Christian
religion which, in their mind, should rest on the approval of their
private reasons. So with Arius and his followers. So, in fine, with
all heresies and all opponents of the Church of God, from the be-
ginning until this hour. It is important, then, to elucidate this
principle ; and, to avoid the use of any term which may give offense,
I shall designate those who are now, or have been at any time, out
of the communion of the Catholic Church, as Private Beasoners, advo-
cates of the only principle which is common to them all. It matters
not what was the specific nature of the error by which they were
distinguished, whether they denied the Divinity of the Son of God
with Arius, or the validity of infant baptism with some modern sect,
or whether they denied the trinity of perscns in the Godhead
with the Swedenborg, and asserted, in opposition to Arius, that
Christ is the " alone Jehovah ;" no matter what may have been their
differences, they all agree in one principle, viz., that of private rea-
son ; so that, without using any other terms of distinction, I shall
designate as Private Reasoners all those who are out of the Com-
munion of the Church, and opposed to her authority as the only liv-
ing competent witnesses of the truth and meaning of Christ's reve-
lation, appointed between God and man, regarded in his individual
capacity.
2,7. I may here remark that, so far as the teachings of Christ are
evidence, there is no promise of truth, Divine guidance, the means
of salvation, or eternal life, except through the doctrines, sacraments,
and sanctifying grace, for the convenience of which His Church is
the organ a.nd appointed channel. ' There is not a single expression
of Holy. Writ that can warrant the opponents of the Church — the
Private Reasoners of any age, whether past or present, to believe
that they can be saved so long as they willfully reject her commis-
sion, and trust to their own individual opinions for the attainment
of truths and the mean's of spiritual life and participation in Christ.
It is in ^•ain for them to say that they belong to the Church, if that
association which they call Church be a fabric of their own construc-
tion, based on the principle of .private reason. There is but one
Church, if there be but one God, for the same Deity could not be
the author of two. And if they do not belong to the communion
of the one Church which He established, then are they necessarily
out of the way that leads to eternal life^ How far their dispositions
to embrace the truth, if they knew it, may plead for them in another
life, it is not by any means within my province to determine.
2S. Now that we have brought the parties to this controversy
fairly out with their distinct and antagonistic principles, the Catho-
lic Church on the one side, and the Private Reasoners on the other,
(with the Bible lying open between them, if you please,) we shall
692 AECHBISHO'P HUGHES.
begin to have a clearer vie-w of the "state of the question. Tho
Church, you perceive, is united as one man in her decision ot the
points at issue. The Private Reasoners, on the other hand, agree
among themselves in nothing, except on the pi-inciples from which
their disagreements arise, viz. : every man on their side, from Simon
Magus to Father Miller, has the right, and that it is his duty to in-
terpret the Scripture for himself. The Church, however, even when
so exhibited, does not by any means recognize the dispute as be-
tween her and her equal. She does not forget her divine origin.
She does not forget the responsibility of her office. She was
originally the recipient, and was to be the preserver, the dis-
semniator, and continuator of the work of Our Blessed Lord, in re-
deeming, not only the generation in which He lived, but all gen-
erations.. Her spiritual, invisible life is but the communication of
His Holy Spirit, which she never can lose the consciousness of. She
says to the unchristian world without : " Here is the message of
your God ; here are the proofs that it comes from Him ; believe
and be baptized for the remission of your sins. To those who have
believed and been baptized, she says, " Here are the treasures of the
merits of Christ's redemption, and here are the things you must
do, in order that they be 'applied for the communication of Divine
Grace, and the sanctification of your souls."
29. The Private Reasoners, on the other hand, say : " Here is the
Bible, the written word of God ; let every man forsake the Com-
munion of the Church ; reject and despise her authority ; take up
the sacred volume, read its contents, form his own opinion as to
what they mean, and so judge for himself." Private reason is thus
erected into a tribunal of higher authority- with its advocates, than
the Church of God.
00. Such has been the principle or rather the fountain of all prin-
ciples, so called, among the Private Reasoners, from the beginning of
the Christian Church. If we pass them in review, according to the
order of their chronological succession, what a singular chaos of
contradictions and confusions do they exhibit. Some hundreds,
perhaps thousands of sects, each of them possessing some truth,
which they carried forth from the Church at the period of their
separation, but no two of them agreeing between themselves on the
errors which caused them to separate ; so that a rigid analysis would
exhibit them mutually refuting each other, and thus, without the
Church's interference, neutralizing among themselves the reasons of
their common hostility to her teaching. If you test the sects that
now exist by the same standard of their mutual contradictions, they
too will refute each other in the same manner. For instance, the
Catholic Church maintains episcopacy as a Dyrine institution of
ecclesiastical government. Now this institution is assailed and de-
nied by many of the sects, but a majority of those separated from
her communion, even in their capacity of Private Reasoners, decide
that the Church is right. In like manner, a? to infant baptism. The
Church maintains its validity. Sorie of tho Private Reasoners op-
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 593
pose hei on this subject, but the majority defend her decision, and
pronounce her to be right. All these sects and denominations have
the same Bible, but they so torture it by decisions obtained at the
tribunal of private reason, that practically it has not the same
meaning for any two of them.
31._ In elucidating the cause of these contradictions, I shall have
occasion to show the palpable fallacy of the principle on which they
all depend. If writers among them wish to seduce persons from the
safe anchorage of Catholic faith, let them put away that style of
clever scurrility, in which letters have lately been addi-essed to me,
and adopt the defense of the principle, which is the fountain of
all their errors, and all their mutual contradictions. Let them fur-
nish me with some basis of faith in their system on which to ground
my belief of what they call Christian truth. Where I am, reason,
that is, rational motjve founded on the evidence of facts ; the words
of Christ, attested by the Church and recorded in the Scriptures ;
the perpetuity and triumph of the Church ; the. constancy and iden-
tity of her teachings ; the precision and positiveness of her doc-
trine ; the unity of her members ; the order, the subordination and
harmony of her ecclesiastical government, all unite in binding me
to the Catholic Communion. But stronger than all these, or rather
giving these efficacy in producing this conviction, must be reckoned
what is promised to all the members of that Communion — the
supernatural gift of Divine faith. I can feel no sentiment but one, of
sorrow and pity for the inconceivable delusion, and, in some cases
the exceeding impudence of persons ■who call on me to forsake the
Church of God, in order to turn Private Reasoner on the meaning
of the Holy Scriptures, and thus, perhaps, add another melancholy
chapter to the religious wanderings of the human mind.
;J2. The Bible is, indeed, the inspired written word of God. But
since it is written, it falls necessarily under the same laws which
determine the value of documents of importance which are entirely
human. To those who received it, as its ^several books came from
their respective writers, the Bible had in the circumstances, immediate
proofs of its authenticity. But to all other persons its authenticity
required proof, by the intermediate testimony of an unbroken chain
of witnesses, reaching from the writer to the reader. It is for a like
reason that human documents of impartance are recorded in public
offices, so that in case of doubt, their authenticity may be duly at-
tested. Now, without the testimony, that is, the authority of the
Church, it would be impossible, at this day, to prove the authenticity
of the Bible. But the Private Reasoner denies the authority of the
Church, and thus deprives the written word of God of her testimony
as to its authenticity and inspiration, and consequently of the first
condition essential to prove its Divine character. I ask any one of
them,, the more learned the better, to prove that the book which
he offers to me as the Bible, is authentic ; except by deriving the
proof from the authority of the Church which he denies. For me
that authority is sufficient, but for him there is no other i so that oa
88
594 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
this point, if te be consistent with his own principle as a Private
Reasoner, his argument will be : " the Bible is the Bible because
it is the Bible, and everybody says so."
33. But suppose, what is impossible, that they could prove the
authenticity of the Scriptures. I pass to a second diflBculty, which
the Private Reasoner cannot meet without invoking the authority of
the Church. What we call the Bible is a book made up of common
paper, ink and binding, which might have been employed for any
other literary purpose. What is revealed in it is the sense or mean-
ing which the Holy Spirit intended to convey. This sense or mean-
ing was originally committed to parchment under written signs, the
exact value of which, as expressive of the meaning, was liable to be
misunderstood by the reader. Eighteen hundred years have passed
since these signs were formed in the ajJtographs of the original wri-
ters. It has been necessary to copy them by pens, not inspired,
during the whole period of fourteen out of the eighteen centuries.
But not only has it been necessary to transfer them; it has also been
necessary to copy them ; it has also been necessary to transfer the
sense from the signs of the language in which they were first writ-
ten to the signs employed in writing other more modern languages,
and in these, also, to renew the work of copying with the hand.
Can any of our Private Reasoners prove, without the authority of
the Church, that the signs have not been altered ? that the text has
not been adulterated by interpolations of the copyist ? that the sense
has not been changed by the willful or accidental addition or omission
of words ? On their principles sach proof is utterly impossible ;
and thus they necessarily sap the foundation of their own religion by
depriving the written word of God of those outward necessary
attestations of its inspiration, its authenticity and the substantial
integrity of its text. And they consider themselves friends of the
Bible, forsooth !
34. But passing over this also — for among Catholics there is no
doubt on either of these points — what is the practical condition of
the Bibfe in the hands of these Private Reasoners ? The sacred vol-
ume is like all other written documents, a silent and dumb oracle
until it is brought into contact with the living intelligence of its
reader. He puts his mind into communication, so to speak, with
the writer of the sacred page through the medium of the written
signs by which the latter intended to convey his meaning. When
he misinterprets the signs, the writer is not there to correct his
error. The Church, indeed, was appointed to discharge the writer's
ofBce in that respect, but the reader is a Private Reasoner, .and will
admit no help from the Church. ' If he says that, according to the
Bible, Christ is God, the Bible speaks not. If he says that Christ is
not God, the Bible is silent still. If he says there is a hell for im-
penitent sinners, the Bible makes no reply. If he says that,
according to the Bible, there is no hell, the sacred volume itself still
remains as mute as if it acquiesced in his interpretation. Now let
him take any of these interpretations. Let him be a leader among
LETTEES ON THE CATHOLIC CHITECH. 595
the Private Reasoners. Let him preach his interpretation with all
■ the eloquence of which human language may be made the vehicle,
and what will it amount to ? Not to what the Bible says, for the
Bible has no power of utterance to say any thing, but his preaching
will be simply his own private opinion, or, in other words, the Bible
having no living voice of its own, he puts his tongue and speech into
the mouth of the oracle, and makes it seem to say just what he
wishes to express. Here is the fundamental fallacy of the wliole
system of Private Reasoners. There is necessarily as little contra-
diction in the true meaning of what the Bible teaches, as there is in
the living teachipg of the Church, or in God himself, who is the
Author of both.
35. Th^ great evil of 'this system is, that contradictions of the
different sects into which the Private Reasoners are divided, are
charged on the Bible itself. There is a subtlety in their first princi-
ple which allows it to evade detection by the popular mind. The
orthodox blame the heterodox for holding erroneous doctrines, but
they do not perceive that both rest on the same foundation — private
opinion, and that this private opinion, in both cases, is presented to
them as what the Bible says. The consequence is, therefore, that
whereas in the Church every doctrine is held and believed as a mat-
ter of fact revealed by Jesus Christ, and therefore infallibly true,
the same doctrines among the Private Reasoners, by the essential
nature of the process through which they arrive at their -i-eligious
belief, are reduced to the basis and uncertainty of opinion. Now
God has revealed no opinions. The Bible contains no opinions, and
yet, on the principle of the Private Reasoners, it is obvious that what
is called religious belief is not, and tjannot be, any thing more than
opinion. The Rationalists of Germany have pushed this principle to
some of its frightful consequences. Their more timid brethren in
this country are, as yet, far behind, but are necessarily moving on
in the same direction. But the end is not yet.
LETTER IV.
Dear Reader :
36. In what I have said in my last letter, you must not under-
stand me as denying that there are many things in the Holy Scrip-
tures which private reason is by its own light competent to un-
derstand. Our Blessed Saviour condescended to appeal to it, in
certain cases. When He refuted the charge made against Him, of.
casting out devils in the name of Beelzebub ; when He appealed to
the knowledge His hearers had of the ancient Scriptures, respecting
the signs of His coming ; when He directed their attention to His
works, as b'earing testimony to Him, the appeal was, in every in-
Btan 56, to their private reason. You perceive, however, that in all
this, He addressed persons not yet aggregated to the Society of His
596 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
disciples ; not yet fully convinced of the divinity of His mission and
character. But in revealing those doctrines which He communica-
ted to His disciples, already convinced that He is the true Teacher
from God, there is not a solitary instance of an appeal to the private
reason of any man. We have a remarkable instance of this, in
the case of the seceders at Caphernaum. The Private Reasoners found
the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist a hard saying, but Christ made
not a single remark to render it what they would call more rational.
He seemed prepared to witness the departure of the others, as ap-
pears by the question He put to them, " will you also go away ?"
Simon Peter answered in the name of the rest, " Lord, to whom shall
we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Here then, is the
iirst striking instance of the difference between faith and opinion ;
beteen the Church of Christ, and those whom we have designated a
Private Reasoner on the doctrines of Revelation.
37. "We may illustrate the principle of this difference by analogies
derived from the exercises of ordinary prudence, in the concerns of
life ; taking care, however, to remember that no human comparison
will be a complete illustration. If a man is sick, he will use the best
information within his reach, and the best light of his private rea-
son, in selecting a good physician. But when he has found him,
. he will not subject the prescriptions to his private reason, rejecting
some altogether, taking only parts of others ; and so, making the
doctor's science subordinate to his own oi^inion. In like manner,
if a man has an important suit at law, he will exercise his private
judgment and reason in soliciting his advocate ; but having selected
him, he will act under his advice, and be guided by him. Kow such
comparisons are defective, inasmuch as both the lawyer and the
physician are fallible, and liable to be mistaken; whereas Christ,
the true advocate, and true physician, is essentially infallible. And
you perceive accordingly, that in the system of religion all that
goes to indicate and determine His character when He was on the
earth, and His Church, as representing Him, after His ascension into
heaven, comes within the province of private reason, until men are
brought into the light of faith, the community of discipleship,
and the unity of the Church. There they are under God's teach-
ing ; there they learn the doctrines which Christ revealed ; there
they ascertain what are the true Scriptures, and what is their true
meaning ; there, in fine, they are taught in the language of our
Saviour himself, "to observe all things whatsoever He had com-
manded" the Apostles, under the promise that He would be with them
all days, even to the consummation of the world. The Church has
not revealed the doctrines ; this was not her office. She was and
is the witness, and teacher, extending through all days, filling up
the whole period of time between the individual believer, and the
Divine Author of Christianity. She bears testimony to the fact,
that such and such doctrines were revealed by Him. If Private
Reasoners pervert the doctrine by erroneous explanattons ; she bears
testimony to the true meaning, and against th&«rror. Every doctrine
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 597
tliiis proposed as a matter of fact, revealed by Jesus Christ, is held
by her children as infallibly true. This is Divine faith, because the
motive of it is the veracity of God.
88. The Private Reasoners, that is, persons out of the Church,
profess equally to found their belief on the veracity of God.
But instead of appealing to the Church, as the witness appointed
by God to attest what doctrines Christ revealed, they appeal to
their own private opinion, as founded on what seems to them the
sense of Scripture. The immediate object of their belief is their
own opinion. They seejj for Divine truth within themselves ; for the
Bible has no meaning for them, until its supposed sense is ascer-
tained and approved by the tribunal within. Hence, although every
doctrine revealed by our Saviour is a fact, and to be proved by
competent testimony, as other facts are, it is essentially changed by
the Private Reasoners into an opinion, before they can appropriate
it as an article of belief in their own minds. In the abstract, they
profess to believe in Christ ; they profess to believe what He taught.
But in practice, they deny any competent provision for determining
what He really did teach, and assume, as a matter of opinion, that
every one must " search the Scriptures," guess at their meaning, and
80 form a kind of religion for himself, as if Christ had left his work
a blank, as to all certain means for its divine attestation, until the
Bible should fall under the individual perusal and interpretation of
each separate Private Reasoner. For the truth of this, I appeal, dear
reader, to your ovs^n experience. The Private Reasoners tell you
to read the Scriptures and judge for yourself. Now, as a test, take
the text, "I and my Father are One," and the other text, "The
Father is greater than I." Here appears to be a contradiction.
Now, judging for yourself, j'ou will lean to one or the other of
these two ; and when you have decided in favor of that which estab-
lishen the Divine equality of the Son with the Father ; or in favor of
the other, what will be the nature of the conclusion to which you
will come in your own mind ? Evidently it will be an opinion, and
this opinion will be the object .ind matter of your belief
39. If, then, according to this mode of ascertaining the truths of
revelation, you come to the conclusion that Christ is no God, what is
the dii-ect thing which you believe ? Something that Christ has
revealed on the subject ? No ; it is simply your own opinion. If,
by the same process, you arrive at the opposite conclusion, what is
it you believe ? Your own opinion again ! Butin neither case can
you say that you believe it on the authority of God revealing it, but
simply on the approval of your own private reason. Can there be,
then, such a thing as Divine faith among believers out of the
Church? Impossible! Now every Catholic believes in the Divinity
of Christ as a positive fact of Divine revelation. And why does he
believe ? Because God^has revealed it. He beheves it therefore on
the authority of God, and believing it on God's authority, he holds
it as a matter of Divine. faith, and not as a matter of opinion. The
6,ct is proved to him by the testimony of the Church, which has
598 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
ahvays believed and always taught this doctrine. And so with
regard to every dogma that enters into the deposit of Christ's reve-
lation. When one of the Pri^•ate Reasoners says he believes in the
Divinity of Christ, he cannot consistently say that he does so because
God has revealed it, for this would be believing it as a fact which, as
such, must necessarily depend on outward testimony for its proof,
but he must believe it because he has searched the Scriptures for him-
self, and has come to the conclusion, in his own mind, that the text
which skys, " I and my Father are One," ought to prevail over the
other text which says, " The Father is greater than I." In other
words, he believes it because it is his own opinion.
•fO. Neither is it of any use to say that God speaks to us in the
Scriptures. The statement is not true. It is one of those piously
fraudulent phrases which the Private Reasoners employ to impose
(>n the simple-minded, and to cover the delusivenoss of their own
principle, under reverence for the Divine Book. It is not true that
the Bible has been given to us for the purpose to which they adapt
it, that of degrading the revelations of Christ into a chaos of human
opinions, mutually contradicting each other. But even if this were
true, it would still be fallacious to say that God speaks to us in the
sacred ^•olume. It would merely be true that he writes to us ; and
between writing to us and speaking to us, there is a great difference.
On the side of God the Scriptures are all that they were intended to
be — an inspired collection of historial and biographical incidents
connected with the lives of our blessed Saviour and His Apostles,
including, however, a written attestation of many, if not all, the doc-
trines of Divine revelation. In so far as doctrines are concerned,
the Scriptures are but an outward, and I might say, a duplicate
form of the living faith which Christ had implanted, as the life-pulse,
in the heart of His Church before the book of the New Testament
had been committed to writing. They emanated from the Church
herself. The authors were inspired to write, but the manuscript
was intended for her use, to be preserved as a part of her faith and
teacliing ; and under the light of the spirit of truth, which she
recei\ed from her Founder, to be perfectly understood and infallibly
expounded by her alone. It is manifest that if God had authorized
tlie abuse which the Private Reasoners make of his written word.
He would have authorized thereby the overthrow of what is most
valuable in the teachings of our Divine Redeemer, viz. : their intrinsic
infallibility, and the certainty of the faith which that infallibility
inspires. He would have been allowing His Divine Son to lay the
everlasting foundations of his Church, to authorize His Apostles to
build it up, whilst He would be at the same time authorizing others,
by private reasonings on the Scriptures, to pull down the edifice,
remodel its form, and reconstruct it according to the dictates of
their private opinion. He would be authorizing some to preach
that Christ is God, and others, that Christ is not God ; some, that
bishops are of Divine institution — others, that they are not ; some,
that there is a hell — others, that there is not, and so on through all
LETTEES OX THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 599
the multitudinous errors of sects into which the Private Reasoners
are divided.
41. If God had appointed the Scriptures to be the guide of the
human mind, through the medium of private interpretation', He
^y•ould have provided the reader with a measure of Divine inspira-
tion corresponding with that of the writer. But although they were
thus written, tljey are not thus read, and among all the schools
which have grown out of the principle of private reasoning, there is
not one whose system provides for this moral deficiency, except that
of the Society of Friends. They assume that God will give His
Holy Spirit to open the interior eye of the true meaning of inspired
written Word. This idea also prevailed among some of the earlier
Private Reasoners of other denominations, and is still clung to by in-
dividuals of a more pious or enthusiastic temperament. But its fal-
lacy is palpable from the fact, that the interpretations arrived at,
through the Spirit of God in the reader, would be uniform ; whereas
their interpretations are as diversified and contradictory as the in-
dividual opinions on which they are founded. I have dwelt on this
subject longer than may have seemed to you necessary. But I deem
it important that I should do so, in order to give you a clear and
distinct idea of the difference between authority and reason — be-
tween faith and opinion — between the Church of God and the Pri-
vate Reasoners who are now, or have been at any time, separate
from her Communion. This distinction is a Divine line between the
truth of Christ and the heresies that have opposed it, from the days
of the Apostles. The Church comes down to us through the suc-
cession of intermediate generations, continuously, as one and the
same society — the successors of the other Apostles, succeeding un-
der the title of bishops, surrounding as their common centre, and
revering as their common ^ isible head, the successor of Peter, on
whom the Church was built ; around the bishops the clergy of the
second order, wyth the faithful people, teaching and believing per-
petually, unanimously, and universally the same truths down to the
present day. Coeval with the commencement of the Church you
find the Private Reasoners, in the seceders of Caphernaum, and then,
following the stream of time downwards, you find their successors
in Cerinthus and Ebion, Marcion, Arius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Pela-
gius, Borengarius (for a time), Wyckliife, Huss, Luther, Calvin,
Bucer, Cranmer, Knox, Socinus, Wesley, Swedenbourg, Joanna
Southcote, Mother Ann Lee, Joe Smith, Father Miller, and Kirwan.
42. In this enumeration, dear reader, I do mean to say that the
several errors into which private reasoning has betrayed the difl^erent
persons whose names are mentioned, were of equal enormity, or of
equal estrangement from the truth. They all agreed in two things,
and it is by their agreement only that I classify them in the same
catalogue, and in asserting the right of private reason to determine
the meaning of what is written in the Scriptures. Their systems
of doctrine were mutually opposed and repugnant to each other —
the errors of some were far more enormous than those of others,
600 AEcnBiseop hughes.
all of them contained some trath, and even mnch precious trutl, but
truth unfortunately transferred from the basis of revelation as a
fact to thai of their opinion ; and by a singular law which pursues
the work of Private Reasoners through allthe wanderings of their
errors, the school (that of Socinus, for instance,) which has most
consistency with their common principle, has the smallest residuum
of truth ; whilst, on the other hand, the school (that of Cranmer,
let us say,) which has the maximum of truth, out of the Church, pos-
sesses but the minimum of consistency with the same organic prin-
ciple, \i£., the right of private reason as interpreter of the Holy
Scriptures. In my last letter, I set forth the parties to any contro-
versies which now exists, or by possibility can exist, between the
Church and her opponents. In this, you see clearly stated the nar
ture of the subject, or the matter in controversy between those par-
ties. You perceive, manifestly, that the Church adheres to her Divine
warranty, to her doctrines, as facts of revelation, which are not to be
disputed by men who believe in the Author of Christianity, and who
admit the authority of moral evidence. The Private Reasoners, on
the other hand, cling to their own interpretations, and oppose to her
their own opinions, with every display of Scripture misunderstood,
of texts distorted, by the various obliquity of the several interpre-
ters. What, then, is the nature of an objection to the Catholic
Church on any one doctrine of revelation ? It is necessarily an
opinion opposed to a fact. The matter, therefore, involved between
these parties is positive fact on the Catholic side ; positive opinion
on the side of the Private Reasoners.
4"S. Another consequence follows. Among the Private Reasoners
there are churches, so-called. On what are they founded ? Evi-
dently on the simple opinions of their respective founders. The
concurrence of other opinions with that of the founder, cannot, by
any means, strengthen the foundation of the pretended Church,
although it may have tended to give plausibilityto the delusion, and
increase themembei'S of the new association. Yet, even experience
has proved the vanity of attempting to build an ecclesiastical edifice
on such a sandy basis. Now it gives way at one angle, and now
at -An other. And, at the present day, there is scarcely one of these
human constructions that is not rent in twain, like the veil of the
Jewish Temple, under God's displeasure at the incredulity of the
people, when His only begotten Son was in agony for their redemp-
tion. It was a necessary consequence of the principle, which might
have been seen a priori, and which experience has fully established,
that no amount of civil power, on the part of apostate rulers of
this world ; no amount of learning on the part of those architects
who planned the edifice, could give stability to the superstructure ;
no accession of new members could give strength or security, so
long as the original foundations rested on the opinions of the
Private Reasoners, who first separated from God's Church. There
is an " original sin" in the very first principle of the Private Rea-
soners, which taints and vitiates all its consequences. Has any one
'ii
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUEOH. 601
of these scliools, which have grown out of it ; a moral certainty,
such as reasonable beings require, as to any one Christian institution
connected with it? I speak not now of its preaching, for the
preacher himself does not profess to give out from, the sacred desk
any thing more than his own opinions. But I speak of those in-
stitutions which, although cut down and mutilated, are still supposed
to have been appointed of Christ— have they any valid sacraments?
have they any true ministry ? have they any one of the Divine
institutions which the Saviour of the world appointed as means of
grace — channels through which His infinite love of mankind, would
convey the merits of His death and passion, to the soul of the indi-
vidual, who should most desire, or stand most in need of it ? On
their own principles, all this is doubtful, since all this is founded on
opinion, and since opinion necessarily implies doubt, or, at least, does
not exclude it.
44. The objections, therefore, which we have to answer in repel-
ling the opposition of the Private Reasoners, are simply the objec-
tions of opinion. And as opinion varies from one individual to an-
other, and oftentimes in the same individual, it is impossible to write
so as to meet the specific form in which these ever changing, incon-
stant, capricious, and oftentimes contradictory conclusions are pre-
sented. The Church has had but one method from the beginning,
and that is, to establish and declare the fact against which the opin-
ion of the Private Reasoner had been arrayed. Now, it is a fact,
which I will mention by way of illustration, that about the middle
of the Seventeenth Century, Charles I of England was executed,
and the mode of his execution was by having his head cut oflT on the
block. Supposing our Private Reasoners were to fill volumes in in-
tending to prove thereby, either that the monarch was not executed,
or that he was executed by shooting or hanging, would it be neces-
sary to refute all the silly opinions contained in those books, in order
to establish the certainty that he was beheaded, and in this manner
put to death ? Certainly not ! It would be quite sufliioient, for all
reasonable people, to prove the fact, and the proof of the fact would
be the ref|utation of all opinions against it. Now, in a similar man-
ner 1 shall proceed in these letters. I shall endeavor to establish
the facts of the Church, and of the several doctrines which she
teaches as revelations from God. And just as/ the people of Eng-
land are competent witnesses, according to the laws of moral evi-
dence, of an event which concerned them, and which occurred two
hundred years ago, so shall the testimony, not only of one nation,
but of all Christendom, attest and establish the facts of the Catho-
lic Church and the Catholic doctrine. This furnishes a sufficient
)-eason why 1, do not take any direct notice of the trash which has
lately been addressed to me, imder the title of " Letters," in. a pub-
lic newspaper. The opinions of the writer are all that they express,
and certainly the man who would undertake to refute or correct all
the foolish opinions that are abroad on religious, as well as on cither
matters, would undertake a very absurd task. I do not say that a
602 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES,
lespectable writer, out of the Church, might not present his opinions
in that measure of apparently good faith, that dignity of style and senti-
ment, that moderation of tone and manner, which should entitle them
to be respectfully noticed. But there is nothing of this kind to recom-
mend the letters just alluded to. No doubt, every man so disposed can
bring together scandals from every age of the Christian Church, be-
ginning with the avarice and treachery of Judas. It is the easiest
thing in the world to find materials to work up into a pamphlet of
reproach upon the social and moral character of any community ;
and yet the publication of the police reports of New York would
give but a false idea of the virtues that still subsist in this commu-
nity, but which find no place on such register. Yet it is, I fear, in
such a spirit that the author of the letters to me was induced to launch
his shallow bark on the ocean of ecclesiastical history ; and with the
peculiar industry of persons like himself, who have given up Divine
faith for human opinion, to collect the scum which floats upon its
surface, and distribute it through the newspapers to the admirers of
such commodity. It is but a poor compliment to the boasted pro-
gress of our age, to discover that it has founded such appreciation.
LETTER V.
Deae Reader :
45. Fi'om what has been said, you perceive the difference between
the condition of those who are within the Chui'ch, and that of the
Private Reasoners, who are beyond the pale of her communion. On
the one side, there is faith ; on the other side, there are opinions.
The Private Reasoners have destroyed the essential basis on which
alone faith could rest securely. They do not deny the revelation it-
self, but they reject the only testimony by which its contents may
be identified and discerned ; and instead of appealing to competent
witnesses, such as Christ • had appointed in the organization of His
Church, they appeal to their own private speculations. You need
not be surprised, then, at the errors and contradictions respect-
ing revelation into which they have fallen. In those States in which
the sovereign espoused their principle, the civil government has
taken into its own hands, by sacrilegious usurpation, the power
which lawfully belonged to the successors of the Apostles, and of
Peter, by the appointment of our Saviour. Thus in England, Prus-
sia, Denmark, and Sweden, not to speak of other States, the secular
authority determines and enforces what the Private Reasoners shall
believe, or at least profess. The rules of the Government in Eng-
land were made less stringent than in the other States, and accord-
ingly England has swarmed with all kinds of sects, schisms, and
heresies. The same is the case in this country, where there is no re-
straint at all. A large number, perhaps a majority, of those who
have inherited the birth-right of reasoning out their doctrines of
liETTEKS ON THE CATIIOjLIC CIIUKCH. 603
Christ, by reading the Bible and judging for themselves, have no
fixed ideas of religion whatever, those of them, on the other hand,
who profess some formulary of creeds, and confessions of faith,
either effervesce into fanaticism, so as to drive out sober-mind peo-
ple, or else sink into indifference, so as to tolerate the most glaring
contradictions, as the only way to escape disputes which, as they
have no certain method of determining truth from error by the pro-
cess of private reasoning, generally end in a split, producing two sects
instead of one.
46. In the Catholic Church the process is that which the Saviour
appointed, that which the Apostles taught and practiced, that which
their successors through all ages, and in all nations, have never
ceased to inculcate and employ. If you would desire to be in-
structed in the fullness of Christ's revelation, if you would desire
to be made partaker of the riches of His grace, and of the merits
of His redemption, you have only to seek admission, and to become
a member in the disoipleship of Christ by communion with His
Church. She is spread throughout the world; and you have but to
apply to the nearest of her priests or bishops, to learn from him
what is her doctrine. He will not, in his reply, give you his opinion,
but he will give you the attestation of her belief as received from
Christ and His Apostles, and as held during eighteen hundred years.
You may consult other priests and other bishops ; and on these
points of revelation you will find no doubt, no discrepancy, but all
will speak as with the same voice, and give you the same reply ; so
that, in the attestations of the indi^•idual Catholic pastor, you have
the universal attestation of the whole Catholic Church ; the same as
if its two hundred millions of witnesses stood by, saying, "Yes, that
is the faith which we have all received, which we believe and
teach."
47. If you Rad lived in the Fifteenth, or in the Seventh, or in the
Third Century of the Christian Church, and desired to know what
Christ had revealed, on similar inquiry you would have found a corre-
sponding process and answer. I do not say that you would have found
the Catholic faith, in the Seventh or in the Third Century, presented
in the same written form of attestation which it received at the
Council of Trent. I speak of it as to its substance, and not its form ;
I speak of it as the living consciousness which, at all periods, sub-
sists most intimately and most perfectly in the Church herself. But
the reason of this formal difference is that the form in which her
doctrine is presented, from one age to another, is more or less de-
termined by the nature of the peculiar errors, which the Private
Reasoners have brought out at different times to oppose, or vitiate,
the truths which she had received from her Divine B'ounder, of
which she was charged by Him to be the guardian, the witness, and
the channel of communication to generations and generations of our
fallen race, then and still unborn. A revelation had been made by
external means, and, so to express it, in a human manner best suited
to the conditions of our nature, as composed of a soul and a body.
C04 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Our Divine Saviour employed the human voice as Man, to commu-
nicate through the sense oi' hearing the knowledge of His Divine
doctrine. His miracles, too, fell under the cognizance of the senses.
The manner of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, were not
exceptions to this law. When He departed, those to whom His
Apostles carried the message of His revelation had to depend on the
intermediate authority of those witnesses appointed by Him. But as
they were sent forth to represent their Divine Lord in carrying on His
work. He armed them with the credentials necessary to confirm their
statement, by the power of miracles, which they also performed.
48. To the unconverted they had to preach a new doctrine, on the
part of Christ and of God. The principal question, then, -w^as
whether God had sent them. This they proved, as their Divine
Master had proved to them His mission, by miracles. The wit-
nesses of either were as competent to testify to their miracles, as
they were to testify to any other public occurrence depending on the
evidence of the senses. It is remarkable that Christ gave an efli-
cacy to the preaching of the Apostles, more striking than had ever
been manifest in His own, when they, after having received the Holy
Spirit, also through an outward and visible medium preached in
Jerusalem, we read of three thousand at one time, and five thousand
at another, who immediately renounced the fallen synagogue and
joined their communion. They appointed and associated with them-
selves new Apostles. Mathias was designated in place of the
traitor Judas ; Paul, after his miraculous conversion, is associated ;
Timothy and Titus, and others, are mentioned as new links in the
Apostolic chain. In the mean time the faith is radiating and extend-
ing to larger and larger ijiroles, with the increase of new adherents
to the new society ; and the Church had already extended to the
east and west — had penetrated many of the Roman provinces, and
become known in the Imperial Capital itself before t"he Scriptures
of the New Testament were written. Since they recorded several
of the things of which we are speaking, and since such events must
have preceded the writing in which they are recorded.
49. Thus, truth of revelation, proved by the testimony of God
himself, in the miracles of Christ and His Apostles, became the
foundation of the Church ; the very life and consciousness of her
being. The doctrines which they ha\'e received were facts, since
they had been revealed. And these, once establised by miracles,
and once become a species of Divine Incarnation of the Word
of God, in the consciousness of the Church, were to be sought and re-
ceived, exclusively, from her authorized testimony and teaching. In
her alone they had existence. She alone had received them from
Christ. And although, composed of mortal beings, her members
and pastors were subject to the laws of our common mortality,
yet, as an external, visible society, organized on the plan of our
Redeemer, her moral identity is instruction ; whilst the spirit of
truth, divinely given, constitutes her inward and immortal life. She
is the same witness to-day, and the same teacher, of tie same truths
LErrEES ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 605
that she has been from the commencement. The only difference is
that the formal mode of presenting her doctrines had been more or
less determined, from age to age, by the special character of the
several heresies which it was a part of her duty to condemn and
repel. Thus, if the errors brought forth by the Private Reasoners
of the Sixteenth Century had been proclaimed by Arius and his ad-
herents in the Fourth, the form of her doctrines, suited to preserve
and maintain the deposit of faith committed to her by Christ, would
have been substantially the same, emanating from the Council of
Nice, as from the Council of Trent.
50. Now, it is manifest that, if Christ appointed a Church to pre-
serve and communicate His revelation, that Church must be infalli-
ble._ That He, commanded His Church to teach all nations is un-
deniable. The precept is, indeed, addressed to the Apostleship of
the Church, but out of the communion of that primitive, united,
and universal Society, which we call the Church there is not, and
cannot be, any true Apostleship. Reasonable evidence for proving
the Divine mission of those to whom the command of our Lord
was addressed, being once furnished, the obligation, on the part of
those to whom they were sent, of being instructed in the Christian
faith ; in other words, of being taught by those who were appointed
teachers for them, is a necessary consequence. So that, whoever
would know all things, " whatsover Christ had commayded them,"
is bound by the acknowleded precept to seek the Apostleship, and
learn the things of revelation from those whom Christ had appointed
teachers thereof, in His own stead. This is the principle of the in-
fallibility of the Church. He has commissioned her to go to all those
who were not present, when He spoke Himself to carry and convey
His teaching, declaring that He would be with them all days, even
till the- consummation of the world. Catholics, therefore, do but
honor Christ in recognizing the infallibility of His Church. It is
not for the exaltation of her ministry, but for the good of her mem-
bers, for the security of all, that He invested her M'ith this essential
of His own nature. In fact, it is the infallibility of Christ which con-
stitutes the in-errancy of the Church.
'51. This she herself Ras ever attested as a fact. It is a portion
of her doctrine. This she has never ceased to attest. It was but in
the exercise of this prerogative that she would have dared to con-
demn the heresies that sprang up in the Apostolic age, or in any of
the ages that have since intervened. The unity of her doctrine,
its universal extension, the deep and religious reverence for the
authority which she exercises, are but consequences of it. It
is attested by every decision of hers, determining the difference be-
tween the original deposit of revealed truth, and the human opinions
which unfaithful men have from time to time, put forth in oppo-
sition to her teaching. It is attested by the' advocates of all here-
sies that have ever opposed her — in the only way in which heretics
could afford such testimony. Whenever she condemned their errors,
then they discovered that she was not only a fallible but a fallen
606 AECHBISIIOP HUGHES.
Church ; but not before. They invariably, as soon as they wei e
numerous enough, arrogated to themselves her authority, and at-
tempted to' play the Church of God, by enacting and enforcing laws
of an ecclesiastical character, with a tyranny over their own members,
unparalleled in her annals. They could not rise to her eminence,
but they would drag her down to their own level j by denying her
that infallibility, which they might not dare to claim for themselves.
In every page of the early Christian writers which illustrates her
doctrines, her infallibility is supposed as a matter of course, and be-
yond the reach of cavil. It would not be consistent with my pur-
pose in these letters to multiply extracts from their writings, to
prove the truth of what I have just stated. But I shall make it
convenient to do so, if any one of our Private Reasoners profess-
ing to be acquainted with the early writings of Christian authors,
shall dsny what has just been said.
52. But in truth, dear reader, there are some among these Pri-
vate Reasoners so blindly prejudiced against the medium through
which Our Saviour would have us to be instructed and sanctified,
that they would sooner reject revelation itself, than receive it
through the teaching of the Catholic Church. For them it would
be of no use to quote the admirable testimony of the Augustines,
the Ambroses, the Cyrils, the Gregories, the Basils, and the Chry-
sostoms, qf the earlier ages of the Church. These illustrations and
saintly writings attest the facts of religion in their time, and in ref-
erence to the Church, their language is stronger than Catholics in
our day are accustomed to on the same subject. But our Private
Reasoners do not wish facts, opinions are suflHcient for them, and
their own opinions especially, are highest in their estimation. Their
opinions have decided that the Church is fallible. If any thing could
be found in the early writers going to corroborate this view, that
would suit them ; but facts, such as found in the pages of those
authors are fatal to their position. Yet it is surprising to me that
professing belief in Christianil y, they do not see the necessity of an
unerring authority, even by the light of private reason ; that they do
not see the fact of its institution in the Holy Scriptures. What
coiild Our Saviour have meant when he said to his Apostles,
" Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every crea
ture?" Mark xvi. 15. What could He have meant when He said,
" He that heareth you, heareth me ; and he that despiseth yon, de-
spiseth me ; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me ?"
Luke X. 16. What could He have meant when He said, "And I will
ask the Fathei-, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he
may abide with you forever, "the Spirit of Truth whom the world
cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him ; but
you shall know him, because he shall abide with you, and shall be
in you?" John xiv. 16, 17. What could He have meant when He
said, " But when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will teach you
all truth ; for he shall not speak of himself; but what things
soever he shall hear, he shall speak ; and the things that are to come,
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 607
he will show you ?" John xvi. 13. What could He liave meant
when He said, " All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and, be-
hold, I am with you all days, even to the oonsummatioil of the world?"
Matthew xxviii. 18, 20. What could He have meant,' when He said,
" And if he will not hear them, tell the Church. And if he will not
hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the jiublican ?"
Matthew xviii. 17. What could the inspired writer have meant, or
rather the Apostles assembled in council, when they sa.id, " It hath
seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay no further burden
upon you than these necessary things ?" Acts xv. 23. And again, in
the forty-first verse, " And he (Paul) went through Syria and (.'ilicia,
confirming the churches ; commanding them to keep the precepts of
the Apostles and the ancients ?" *
53. I might multiply passages of this kind from the pages of the
inspired writings. But it is useless addressing the Private Reason-
ers with such questions, inviting them to give out their opinions, in-
stead of the meaning which I ask for. You, at least, dear reader,
believing in the Holy Scriptures will understand the importance of
the true meaning of these several passages. Before they were writ-
ten, the Church was in possession of the Divin6 prerogative which
they express and testify. Whether the words had been put on
record or not, she would have been equally in possession of that pre-
rogative, namely, the vicarious authority to teach unerringly, uni-
versally, perpetually, until the end of the world, the doctrines of
Christ. She did not receive this prerogative because the Scrip-
ture records some portion, at least, of the terms in which Our Lord
has expressed and conveyed it, but because it had been so expressed
and so conveyed before it was recorded in the Scriptures. But I
ask you, being out of the Communion of the Church, what, in your
opinion — for unforttmately you have nothing else to appeal to — do
these passages mean ? If you are not satisfied with your own opin-
ion, elicit that of your neighbors. Ask the learned in theology
among the Private Reasoners what is the meaning of these passages,
if it be not to invest the official teachers of the Christian religion
with the necessary portion of in-errancy, in other words, of infalli-
bility, by its Divine Author ?
O, if the Scripttires contained evidence that Our Lord had given
instructions for the propagation and perpetuation of His religion,
according to the modes which the Private Reasoners adopt, tho
CatholicChurch would lose all authority for me. If He had said,
" Go ye, therefore, write the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the
Epistles and the Apocalypse, unite them with the writings of the
Old Testament, until they compose what shall be called the Bible,
invent printing, discover the properties of steam, apply both to
multiply copies of the Bible, distribute these among, the discijiles,
send them to the heathen, telling each and all to search the Scrip-
008 AECHBISnOP HUGHES.
tures and __ adge for themselves, and behold I shall be with the Bible,
and the readers thereof, no matter how contradictory may be the
opinions to which the perusal of it shall give rise in their minds, all
days, even to the end of the world ;" if, I say, Christ had so spoken,
and the Scriptures had so recorded the fact, I, too, should promote
my poor temjjoral interests, by giving in my humble adherence to
the ]irinciple of the Private Reasoners. But as it is, I cannot forget
another admonition of Our Blessed Lord, " What doth it profit a
man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?"
54. Now, dear reader, if these reasons be sufficient to hinder me
from forsaking the One, Holy, Catholic Church, after the example
of the fallen writer who has addressed letters to me frorn the place
of his apostacy, should they not be equally good reasons for you to
seek communion in the Church which he has forsaken ? Is your
soul less dear to you, than mine is to me ? And if, excepting my
own unwoithiness, I am in the way of eternal life, which Christ has
ordained, and to which he has opened the entrance for all mankind,
why should not you be prepared to enter upon it, and be the com-
panion of the journey through life with so many imited millions,
in the harmonious unity and Communion of God's Church ? Why
should you still have to grope your way through the mists of error
and private opinion, outside her Communion, when within you could
have the certainty of truth, iind the promise of your very Saviour,
as a pillar of the cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, the one
to enlighten the darkness of your natural reason, the other to shield
you from the false and deceitful glare of human science which is not
according'to God. O, how glorious and admirable are the consist-
ency and identity of that religion, in which it is my privilege to
borrow, in reply to the appeal of the unhappy man who has ad-
dressed me, the language with which St. Augustine rebuked a Pri-
vate Reasoner, fourteen hundred years ago : "In the Catholic
Church, not to mention that most sound wisdom, to the knowledge
of which a few spiritual men attain in this life, so as to know it in
a very small measure, indeed, for they are but men, but still to know
it without doubtfulness — for not quickness of understanding, but
simplicity in believing, makes the rest of the masses most safe — not
to mention this ^^'isdom, which you (Manichses) do not believe to be
in the Catholic Church, many other things there are which most
justly keep me in her bosom. The agreement of peoples and na-
tions keeps me ; an authority begun with miracles, nourished with
hope, increased with charity, strengthened (confirmed) by antiquity,
keeps rac ; the succession of priests from the chair itself of the
Apostle Peter, unto whom the Lord, after his resurrection, commit-
ted His sheep, to the present Bishop, keeps me ; finally, the name
itself of the Catholic Church keeps me — a name which, in the midst
of so many heresies, this Church alone has, not without cause, so
held possession of (or obtained) as that, though all heretics would
fain ha\e themselves called Catholics, yet to the inquiry of any
stranger, Where is the meeting of the Catholic Church held ? no
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUKCH. 609
heretic would dare to point out his own hasilica, or house. These,
thereforo, so numerous and so powerful ties of the Christian name-
ties most dear, justly keep a believing man in the Catholic Church,
even though through the slowness of our understanding, or the de-
servings of our lives, truth show not herself as yet in her clearest
light. Whereas, amongst you, where are none of these things to
invite and keep me, there is only the loud promise of truth, which,
if it be indeed shown to be so manifest as not to be able to be
called into doubt, is to b6 preferred before all those things by which
I am kept in the Catholic Church, but which, if it be only promised,
and not exhibited, no one shall move me from that faith which at-
taches my mind to the Christian religion by ties so numerous and
so powerful." — St. Augus. Contra Ep. Manichms.
LETTER VI.
Deak Readee :
55. The order, according to which our Divine Redeemer pro-
ceeded, in the establishment of His Church, is well worthy of your
deepest consideration. He alone is, in His own right, the true
Bishop and Pastor of souls. Whatever spiritual powers have been
exercised by the ministers of His Church, are powers not originat-
ing in themselves, nor conferred by human authority, but are
delegated by Him, so that through them, as ministers of God, and
dispensers of the Divine mysteries. He is still propagating the
knowledge, and dispensing the mysteries of man's redemption,
through merits of His passion and death. He first, as you have
seen, brought over to belief in Him, those who are spoken of as
His " disciples." For their sake. He selected, from among them-
selves, some to be " Apostles." From among the Apostles He se-
lected one, " Peter," to be their Chief, their superior visible Head
on Earth, the common centre of their Union, and the great Key-
stone, so to speak, of the Apostolic arch, which should bind all the
parts of the Christian edifice together. Thus, the order which He
prescribed, and authorized by His own example, is, that all should
be disciples, in the first instance ; and then, that the Divine call
given to some, by His Spirit, to higher states in the Church should
be outwardly recognized and approved by the pre-existing author-
ity, with which He had invested her. Otherwise there would be
no protection for His fold from the inroads of wolves, presenting
themselves in sheep's clothing. Otherwise, any one might pretend
that God had called him to the work of the Christian ministry, and
laying hold of the Bible, might rush to the first pulpit he found va-
cant ; there to give out, as the doctrines of Christ, the dreams of
his own opinions. In fact, something vei-y like this has taken place,
and become general, among the Private Reasoners.
56. But Our Redeemer took precautions against this, both in the
39
610 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
example of His own ministry, and in His injunctions to His Apostles.
He did not enter on His public ministry even on the strength of
His miracles ; for, the great objeqf of His miracles was to prove
that God had sent Him. He did not pretend to teach of Himself;
but " whatsoever things He had heard of the Father," He made
known to them ; or if intimating for their model, that His prepara-
tion for His public ministry was in the condition of a disciple ; one
who learns first, and is sent to teach afterward. And, accordingly,
when He delegates the office of teachers in His stead to the Apos-
tles, He prescribes the order in which it is be carried on : " As the
Father has sent me, so also I sent you." And again, " you have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you thai you go and bring forth fntit,
and that yo^ur fruit may remain." It is this way that the Apostles
themselves, and their successors, down to the present day, have
ever proceeded in recruiting the sanctuary, and continuing the
Apostleship of the Church. The individual candidate for the holy
ministry, even though inwardly called of God, required to be out-
wardly recognized and approved, by the proper authority pre-exist-
ing. Thus Mathias, Timothy, Barnabas, Titus, Clement, and others,
were associated to supply in the order of the ministry, the spiritual
wants of the still increasing discipleship.
57. To the importance of this economy, I cannot too earnestly
call your attention. It opens up the evidence of a great principle
of Divine wisdom, in the establishment of the Church, and of great
comfort in consolation to those who are in her sacred communion.
By the light of this principle and the facts of history, the learned,
or the illiterate Catholic, can trace his relation to the work of
spiritual regeneration, wrought by Our Redeemer, through an un-
broken connection of outward historical evidence, back to the
days in which the Saviour of the World preached the perfect, and
in one sense, new order of God's goodness, by the well of Jacob,
or from the bark of Peter on the lake of Gallilee. Such Catho-
lic is under the pastorship of a clergyman who has been sent by his
Bishop ; that Bishop has been sent by other Bishops, pre-existing in
the Church ; and under the appropriation and confirmation of the
successor of St. Peter in the See of Rome — associated to the
Apostolic body — each one of those Bishops had been sent in like
manner, and so on, in the ascending series, until you reach the
Apostolic age ; whilst by a singular, special, and most remarkable
providence) of Christ over His Church, the direct line of the suc-
cessors of St. Peter, is as traceable, name by name, and from age to
age, from the days of Christ, as the successive names of the English
sovereigns since William the Conqueror, or of our presidents since
the adoption of the American Constitution. In no case, from the
Sovereign PontifF_ in the See of Peter, down to the humblest
grade in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, has any one ever been allowed
to rise from the lower, to the higher grade, of ecclesiastical sub-
ordination, except by the approbation and confirmation of\he pre-
■existing authority of the Church. So that by a Divine institution,
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 611
our pastors are sent by older pastors who had been sent by others, in
perpotual succession, until you reach the Apostles, who had been
sent by Christ, who had been sent by God.
58. But it was not enough that they should have been sent, or
approved, by the pre-existing authority of the Church ; for as Judas
had fallen away, although called by Christ to the ministry, and as any
individual Priest or Bishop was liable to fall away, it was neces-
sary to provide for the safety of the flock in such contingency.
And that proxision was made in the very conditions on which the
Church conferred pastoral powers, and recognized the official char-
acter in each of her ministers. The individual was supposed to
have learned, as a disciple, what he was to teach, in his ministerial
capacity ; namely, all things whatsover Christ had commanded His
Apostles. The living and universal Church, at the period of such
app'ointment, was in conscious possession of what had been thus
commanded by 4)ur JLiord. , So that, the new minister was bound,
not only by the conditions of his appointment, but also by his own
most solemn oath and vow, to teach the doctrines of the Church,
and to teach, as doctrine, nothing besides. Hence, if, as in the case
of Nestorius .and other fallen Bishops, any one of the Episcopal Or-
der should embrace novel or heretical doctrines, the fact of his having
been sent, in the first instance, by proper authority, could not avail him
in an attempt to lead the portion of the flock over which he had been
pliiced, into poisonous and destructive pastures. That flock had be-
longed to the Church, before his appointment ; and the Spouse of
Christ would have been left unable to protect her children, if the
flock were thus exposed to be- involved in the apostacy of the
faithless shepherd, who had been placed over them, not for his sake,
but for theirs. In all such contingencies, the Ohurch revoked the
mission, and withdrew the jurisdiction, of the hireling shepherd,
" whose own the sheep were not." It remained for all such pastors,
and their adherents, to renounce the Church, and to turn Private
Reasoners ; both of which they seldom failed to do.
59. Now, dear reader, if you were a Catholic, you would be filled
with gratitude to the Divine Founder of Christianity, for having
(in the organization of this Church) thus fenced and guarded round
about the sacred deposit of. His revelation, wifh such precautions,
and sucTi means of security. You have seen already, that Christ
had identified His own voice with that of the teachers, whom He
commissioned to carry on His ministry, "He that heareth you,
Ijeareth Me," and what is recorded in the beginning of the tenth
chapter of St. John is as true to-day, in. the Catholic Church, as it
was when first declared by her Divine Founder : " Amen, amen, I
say to you ; he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber; but
he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To
him the porter openeth ; and the sheep hear his voice ; and he
calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. An^
when he hath led out his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
612 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
sheep follow him; because they know his voice. But a stranger
they follow not, but fly from him ; because they know net the voice
oi strangers." ■ '
60. It has, perhaps, never struck you that the Greek word. Apostle,
simply signifies one sent. So also the word missionary., derived from
the Latin verb, mitto, signifies the same — one sent. Hence, as you
ha'i'e seen, our Divine Saviour taught on earth as the Apostle, or
the sent, from God. This mission from the Father he conveyed to
those whom he sent, and they, as being the depository of the Divine
Authority to send, conveyed it to others in proportion as the wants
of the Church, and the succession of time, required. You perceive
how intimate is the relation between this economy and the principle
of faith and doctrine, as set forth in the preceding letters. God had
appointed that men should receive and believe the doctrines of reve-
lation from the teaching of those who were thus commissione"d to
make them known. The ear, and not the eye, was to be the inlet of
the soul — and this St. Paul eloquently and beautifully sets forth in
the Epistle to the Romans : " How, then, shall they call on Him in
whom they, have not believed ? Or, how shall they believe Him of
whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher ? And how shall they preach except they are sent ? . . . .
Faith, then, cometh by hearing, and hearing by the words of Christ."
, The opinions of the Private Reasoners are very difierent from this.
According to them, faith cometh by seeing, and the true preacher is
the voiceless Bible ; and, accordingly, their Apostles are the colpor-
teurs, who sow Bibles over the world in order to reap, not the har-
vest of faith but the contradictory speculations of private opinion.
Still, the Bible had its'^ivine use of unspeakable value — this being
only the abuse of it. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the inspired
writer lays down the rule for the assumption of the ministerial
character in the Christian Church : " Neither doth any man take
the honor to himself but he that is called by God as Aaron was."
Now, Aaron was called by God through the pre-existing authority
and outward appointment of Moses. In the eleventh chapter of the
Apostles' Acts, Barnabas is sent to Antioch, and there with Saul he
" taught a great multitude," so that at Antioch the disciples were
first named Christians. After the dispute respecting the, Gentiles
and the law had been settled, in the Council of Jerusalem, the dis-
turbers are spoken of in the twenty-fourth verse of the fifteenth
chapter as " some going out from us . ... to whom we gave no com-
mandment, i. e., whom we had not sent.
61. In short, there is no instance on record in which the mission
did not emanate from the preexisting authority of the Church, con-
ferred in an outward manner, except in the case of St. Paul. His
mission was, in some sense, an exception to the established order.
He had been miraculously enlightened with a knowledge of the
faith and doctrines of the other Apostles, and received hia authority
to preach and teach the same from JesuS Christ himself. But yet
even this did not occur in an invisible manner. There were wit-
LETTEES ON THE CATHOLIC CHTJECH. ' 613
nesses of the light and of the sounds which suddenly changed the
persecutor into a vessel of election, and an Apostle of the Gentiles.
Besides this, he confirmed his mission by miracles, the power to
operate which conferred on him in attestation of his having been sent,
A smiilar power the Almighty never failed to confer on the prophets
or other extraordinary messengers, under the Jewish dispensation.
But in the economy of the Christian Church the Apostleship of St.
Paul is the' only instance, and that is sustained by its own super-
natural evidence. In all other instances the mission, i. e., the minis-
terial character and officer of teaching and preaching the revelations
of Christ, was derived from the authority pre-existing in the Church,
and which had descended from God, through Christ and his Apos-
tles, as we have already seen.
_ 62. _ In this exposition, dear reader, I have directed your attention
^specially to two points. The mission of those who are to teach the
word of God ; and the revocation of powers when any of those sent
cease to discharge the functions of his appointment. The mission,
as the term is used here, implies a pre-existing power and authority
to send. It implies a person to be sent to ministerial duties, whiot
he might not lawfully undertake without such appointment and
deputed authority. Besides, it supposes that before he is sent, he is
inwardly called of God, and is instructed in the extent, and limita-.
tion also, of the office which is conferred upon him. In all this,
however, I speak but of the visible organization of the Church,
effected by divine wisdom and goodness to preserve to us the word
of God, as such, and the spiritual means of grace which he has ap-
pointed for the progressive and perpetual regeneration of mankind,
by applying to them individually in communion with the Church,
the merits of his suffei'ings and death. These means have reference
to the interior spiritual life, of which I shall treat hereafter. Com-
pared with these precipus institutions of our God, the outward
oi'ganization of the Church is, one might say, but as the casket to
the jewel within — valuable oh account of what it preserves. The
preservation of the jewel depends on that of the casket ; and the
Private Reasoners may perceive, if they are not too blinded by
prejudice to recognize the fact, that in breaking one they have de-
stroyed both — albeit, they " search the Scriptures" in quest of the
rejected and lost treasure.
63. Let us. apply to them some of the tests which are so posi-
tively enjoined, so universally adhered to, in the Primitive Apostolic
and Catholic Church. You have seen already that what they call
" faith," " doctrine of the Bible," etc., is nothing more than their
own opinions. These opinions have been exaggerated in certain
formularies of belief, called Articles of Religion, Confessions of
Faith, and the like. These collected and concentrated opinions they
support on a living traditional opinioti, to the effect that the symbol
contains the exact meaning of the written Word of God, and al-
though the Holy Scriptures, as they pretend, are plain and intelligi-
ble to all, yet they present to their several schools the symbolism of
614 AECUBISHOP HUGHES.
(Iieir opinions expressed in their Confession of Faith, as— if they
will excuse me for so saying — the Bible made easy.
Doctrines, as positive facts of revelation, they have none ;_and, on
their principle of private opinion, cannot have. But supposing that
they had doctrines among them, has any of them the right, consist-
ently with the order which Our Lord established in His Church, to
teach or preach them in His name ? Observe, I do not say, espe-
cially if the matters were of less sacred consequence, that they have
riot a right to preach their opinions to all mankind. But in that
case, too, candor and fairness should induce them to proclaim that
they promulgate, not the doctrines of Christ as facts of revelation,
hut simply their own opinions as to what those doctrines are. The
wrong which I think they do to the simple-minded, is in seekingto have
their opinions received as the teachings of Christ himself. If they had
received the true mission, this would not, could not have been the
case. They would have been great in their generations, by their
associations with the Apostolical and universal ministry of the Cath-
olic Church, in preaching the doctrines which she received from
Christ and his Apostles ; but personally, and of themselves, they
would have been as insignificant as the echo of truth which their
voice prolongs. The most educated congregation in the Catholic
world would be stricken with horror, if its minister dared to put
forth his opinion, no matter 4ow learned he might be, as, or instead
of, the doctrines of Christ, which he was supposed to have learned
before his admission to his sacred office, and was bound to teach
afterward. But private reasoning has changed all this. The world
at this day, or at least in the language which we are accustomed to
hear, recognizes the man who dresses in grave and reverend cos-
tume, and who volimteers such views as occur to his mind, from
leading a passage in the Bible to any public audience that may listen
to him, as a " preacher ;" then a preacher is " a minister of the Gos-
pel ;" then a minister of the Gospel is an " ambassador of God ;"
here they will tell you to " see Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts
of the Apostles, the Epistles and the Apocalypse," chapter and
verse ; and thus, by a deceptive sliding scale of the human language,
.ind a direct perversion of the Scriptures, they come to be regarded
as persons whom Christ had sent to carry on the work of His min-
istry.
64. I would not have you disregard the conventional usages of
society, or the courtesies of social life, by which the character of the
Sacred ministry is recognized as such. But, speaking according to
the truth of God, and the eternal interests of immortal souls, it is
altogether necessary to scrutinize the claim, and investigate the
basis and foundation on which it is supposed to rest. By whom
were these supposed ministers of Christ sent ? This is a test ques-
tion. The Church of God is older than they. Did she send them ?
Assuredly not. Had she sent them in the first instance, when they
ceased to be faithful to their appointment, she revoked their mis-
sion, and canceled their authority. Did God himself send them, as
LETTERS ON THE CATnOLIC CHUKCH. 615
extraordinary envoys ? Then, like St. Paul, let them appeal to mira-
cles to prove their mission, and like him to preach the doctrines which
he had revealed to the Church. It is certain that, in the first in-
stance, they were not sent by any recognized pre-existing authority
in the Catholic Church, or of any other pretended Church on the
face of the earth. For instance, when Arius, or Nestorins, Euty
ches, or Pelagius, or "Waldo, or Wiokliffe, or Luther, or Cranmer,
or Calvin, went forth, from what possible authority could either of
them derive a mission to propagate the several schools of private
opinion into which their adherents have been, or are, divided?
Who sent them ? Not the Church ; for they either left, or were
expelled from her Communion. ISTot God ; for this would be au-
thorizing them to pull down the Church His Divine Son has insti-
tuted. Not themselves ; for no man can send himself. Who,
then, sent them ? Not their followers ; for it was only in conse-
quence of a pretended mission that they could have followers. Not
the Emperors of the Eastern Empire, nor of the Western ; for em-
perors of the earth are earthy. Not the Princes of Germany, not
the Parliaments of England ; for they have no such power or au-
thority to confer. By whom, then, were they sent in the first in-
stance ? Evidently they had no mission from God ; they were not
sent, and could not be sent, by any other.
Now, dear reader, give, I pray you, this letter a second and more
attentive perusal, and study deeply the importance of its contents.
There is, at the present time, a certain form and order of mission for
those who assume to be preachers of the Gospel among the Private
Reasoners. But, in the sight of man, there is no reasonable evi-
dence of the warranty by which it is carried on ; nor can there be in
the sight of God, according to the want of evidence before us, any
reality. Examine this question. The economy of God in the organ-
izing of his Church is manifested as you have seen ; " how can they
preach unless they are sent." Nor does this vary in its analogy with
the outward display of His almighty power in the material creation
and government of the world. Every beam of light reflected from
the earth must have a sun from which it proceeds. Every tree that
grows must have a root by which it derives nutriment to renew its
vernal foliage. Every stream or river that is seen gliding onward
must have a fountain to supply the flow of its waters. Every min-
ister of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, both at pres-
ent and at every period, lias been sent, in regular order, by those
who were sent by the Apostles, who were sent by Christ, who was
sent by God. But not so with the ministers of religion among the
Private Reasoners. If they are a tree, where is their root ? If they
are a river, whese is the fountain from which they flow ?
61C AECHBiaHOP HUGHES,
LETTER YII.
Deak Reader :
65. Truth does not change by lapse of time. In studying this
question, then, take your stand-point of scrutiny at the period when
Luther turned Private Reasoner, say 3517 — exactly three hundred
and thirty-one years ago. The year previous there was but one
United Catholic Church ip Christendom. Its people had been origi-
nally converted from Paganism to Christianity, but subsequently
had continued to receive the faith, as it were, by inheritance, from
their Catholic parents and their Catholic education, in which the
aggregate of families had been formed into a parish ; the aggregate
of parishes into the diocese ; the aggregate of these, under the chief
apostleship inherited by the successors of St. Peter, into the Uni-
versal Communion of the Catholic Church. All recognized the
same pastors, acknowledged the same sacraments, believed the same
truth of Christ's revelation. The belief was faith^ and not opinion ;
for Christianity as a revelation was, as it ever has been, received on
the authority of testimony^ and not on the speculation of private rea-
soning. The whole Church of God, from the rising to the setting
sun, was a witness of its belief and doctrine. Among those who
had been sent no man was daring enough to propose, as what Christ
had revealed, the results of his own reading. Every minister in the
Church of God, from the sovereign Pontiff down to the cleric in
minor orders, had been called from the lower to the higher grade,
by an acknowledged smthov'itj pre-existing in the Church. Those to
whom the ministry of religion had been delegated, had been sent ac-
cording to the order and appointment of our Lord himself. The
Greek schismatics were sank, or sinking into spiritual slavery under
the pressure of civil despotism in ISTorthern and Eastern Europe, as
well as Western Asia. But even in these regions there were innu-
merable Catholics, whilst the Church herself, in the sense which her
Catholicity has been explained, surrounded the globe, like the atmos-
phere which men breathe, without any recognition or distinction
of geographical boundaries. From the east to the west, from the
south to the north, there was the universal attestation of one Lord,
one Faith, and one Baptism. Men might differ from each other,
as they did, in forms of government, in climate, in local habitation ;
but as regards religion there was no difference. One Catholic Hymn
of faith, of worship, of church government, of unity, rose in univer-
sal harmony from all parts of the earth, in which the name of Christ
was known and adored, without a note of discord. Other topics
there were of human origin ; and in regard to them it was lawful to
entertain honest opirnons and honest differences. But religion was
the work of Christ ; it was all, if it was any thing ; it had been dur-
ing fifteen preceding centuries transmitted as a fact ; and about the
reality of facts, so attested, there is no room for opinion or differ-
LETTERS ON TUB CATHOLIC CHURCH. 611
_ 60. But now comes the year 1517 ; .and from that period the prnc-
tiee of modern private reasoning takes its origin. Luther gave his
opinion at great length, botli orally and in writing ; Carolstad gave
/iw, tliffei'ing from Luther; Zuingle and Calvin theirs, in many re-
Bpeots differing from both; Sooinus gave his, and did not agree
with any of them. Thus the schools were opened, and what the
masters had taught, certainly the scholars had a right to learn.
Here, then, was furnished the primitive stock of opinions from
learned _ and eloquent men ; and although they were mutually
contradictory of each other, still they were severally ascribed to
the same Bible. Who was to be the judge. Their answer was the
Bible. But the Bible cannot be a judge of the meaning of what is
written on its inspired pages, except through the medium of living
interpretation. Who then shall be interpreter ? The Church ! Not
at all. The appeal was from her judgment and Against lier tes-
timony. Who, then ? " Every man for himself," was the unani-
mous reply. Hence, every man, by their principle, and of right, if
that principle be correct, reasoned within himself on the written
woi-ds of the Bible, until he formed some opinion of his own on the
supposed meaning, and then erected this, his own opinion, into a
dogma of Christ's revelation, and quoted Scripture to support it.
Three hundred years have since elapsed, and you see the con-
sequence. In Germany, Socinianism, Deism, Atheism, Pantheism,
are enthroned in academic chairs, and installed in pulpits, once
Christian. This right of substituting human opinion for the truths
of revelation, and in their stead, wjis secured by the first principle
of what was called the Reformation, and draws the great first line
of sejjaration between the Catholic Church, and the Private Rea-
soners, who are excluded from her Communion. This principle does
not profess to make or authorize infidels, so that they shall oppose
Christ, or the Bible, directly, in that open, honest, candid manner,
which would put believing men on their guard. It merely author-
izes them to oppose (he Church, and then to take up Christ, and ex-
plain away his attributes ; to take up the Holy Scriptures, and
pushing aside His doctrines, substitute their own opinions, to be sus-
tained by " chapter and verse."
67. You have seen that according to the order established by
Christ, the ministers of religion were to be approved, ordained, and
commissioned, that is, 'sent by the pre-existing authoi-ity of the
Church. As regards the founders of the Private Reasoners in
the Sixteenth Century, this authority revoked their commission
wherever it had been given. From that moment they found them-
relves, in refeience to the Church of God, very much in the
position of the American Commissioner or negotiator of peace
from this country, who is now in the city of Mexico. He has received
from the supreme Executive power of the State, such portion of
the country's authority as would enable him, within the limits of
his commission, to discharge the functions of his appointment. This
commission being but a delegation of power, was necessarily revoca-
618 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES,
ble by the aullority which had composed it, and it has been revoked
accordingly. So that Mr. Trist is now a private citizen, having no
more authority to discharge a public ministry in the name of his
Government, than any private individual. This is precisely an
illustration of what happened between the Church and the first
Private Reasoners of the period of the Reformation. They all had
been born, or at least baptized and educated in the Catholic Church.
They all had been taught in the unity of the faith. Some of them
commissioned to preach her doctrines, and to minister her sacra-
ments. When they turned aside to substitute their own private
reasoning, instead of the faith, which, as disciples, they had learned,
and which they vvteeb sent to teach. She, to protect the flock com-
mitted to her care, revoked the authority of the faithless com-
missioners, and left them, in reference to, the Church, much in the
same situation*which Mr. Trist now holds toward the Executive
authority of the United States.
Now the question is, in their case, deduced to a very simple
dilemma. Either they were sent by, some nevv authority, hitherto
unknown in the Church, or they were not sent by the Church, is
manifest. That they were sent by other authority, there is not
the lightest evidence. Now, if they admit this, they grant my
whole argument. And it follows, as a necessary consequence, that
they neither preach nor minister by the authority of Christ ; that
they preach without their being sent, contrary to the Divine in-
junction ; that they take this honor to themselves without being
called of God, as Aaron was. This is all that I require. Their
learning I do not care to dispute. Their private or personal char-
acter I have no desire to call to question. Their eloqaence in the
pulpit, as public speakers, I am as ready to admit as their warmest
admirers ; but their derivation of any spiritual authority, to preach
the Word of God, or to administer His Sacraments, I utterly deny,
for the reasons already stated. Calvin never having attained
priest's orders in the Church, organized the principles of his school,
and the discipline of his scholars, according to the exigency of his own
position. He himself had not been sent, and they who claim, under
him, can have no pretension to Divine mission. Luther, having been a
priest would keep the position of the ministry as high, at least, as the
grade to which he belonged. But from him and his, the authority
of the mission had been withdrawn, and no supply of new author-
ity as claimed from any other source. In England the mission
was revoked, and the authority withdrawn from Cranmer, and
others of the Episcopal order, who at a later period, imitated his
example. They, however, in the exercise of their private reason,
came to the conclusion that the temporal sovereign of Great'
Britain possessed through the medium of some hidden virtue in the
crown which he wore, the right to supply authority, and the power
to send, which the Chi-istian Church had derived from God through
Christ and His Apostles.
68. The history of these associations, down to the present day;
liETTBES ON THE CATHOLIC CUURCII. 619
exhibit the consequences of this principle in pei-fect keeping with
the antecedents. A fictitious imitation of the Church, as respects
the principle of authority and mission, has also prevailed in different
ways in these several communions. They have ordinations of the
minister, and a form of sending, as if they could transmit the orig'
inal Apostleship. Can a dry well supply the flow of a perpetual
stream ? Can they transmit what they never received ? Can they
impart powers which they never possessed ? Even admitting that
those of the present day among them who exercise the functions of
the ministry, such as they understand it, can point to the period of
their mission, and to the authority by which they were sent, still,
if, in tracing the derivation of that pretended authority backward,
you arrive at a period where a great link in the chain of its trans-
mission is wanting, you discover such a flaw in the title as renders
void every right that is claimed under it ; then it is manifest that
the forms of ordination, but still more of the mission, become a
mere empty fiction among the Private Reasoners. You can proceed
very well, according to one order, until you reach Calvin ; another
will conduct you with sufficient accuracy until you reach the prime
mover of what is called the Reformation ; by a third you can estab-
lish a succession of Bishops under the British crown as far back as
Parker and Elizabeth. But here, in each case, the link which should
connect the several parties with the pre-existing authority of the
Catholic Church, or of any other visible community of Christians,
is wanting. Here is the defect, in kabice — " ex stihillo nihil pit."
If these heads of departments amongst the Private Reasoners had
no authority themselves, how could they give authority to others ?
And is it not a bold stretch of impudence in such a writer as " Kir-
wan" to invite Catholics to relinquish, not only the doctrines of the
Catholic Church, for the silly opinions which he has adopted on the
meaning of the Bible, but also to forsake that pastorship of the
Church, in which they recognize as ministers of God only those
who are sent, and can prove their mission from the days of Christ
and His Apostles, to put themselves under the spiritual guidance of
men whom God has not sent at all.
69. If Calvin, or Luther, or the Prime Minister of England, were
invested with power and authority to ordain ministers, and give
them mission or jurisdiction in the Church, let the " Kirwanites" and
Private Reasoners furnish Catholics with some proofs of the fact.
Let them refer to and establish such proofs for the satisfaction of
their people, whenever they present themselves as ministers of the
Gospel. Let them acknowledge the authority, and the only author-
ity, by which they are sent. Let them be frank and candid in a
matter of so much importance to the souls of others, as well as their
own. Let them admit honorably that the derivation of their power
dates only from the period, and is derived from the parties ali-eady
mentioned. Let them not disguise the fact that at the period, the
unhappy period, as I must call it, of their separation from Catholic
unity, the Church revcked the j)owers of mission and of jurisdic
620 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
tion, as effectually as the Government has revoked the powers of
Commissioner Trist. And that, in neither case, can the work for
which such powers had been conferred be lawfully carried on, or
continued, after their withdrawal.
It is on this account, among others, that the mooted question of
Anglican ordination is, aftei- all, but a point of minor consideration,
and of secondary importance. For, supposing what is best, but ex-
tremely doubtful, that the validity of ordination survived the shock
of pri\ate reasonings at the period of the change, still the question
arises, how can they take the honor to themselves unless they were
called of God, as Aaron was? And still more, how can they
preach unless they are sent ? By whom have they been sent since
that time ? Either by the people as such, or by the secular power
of the State. The crown in England, for instance, has usurped the
authority of Moses, as the medium by which Aaron was called of
God. The crown has usurped the authority of Christ and His
Church, in sending or giving mission to the ministry of the State
religion. By what title does the crown ever become possessed of
such authority ? And with what conscience can men of enlightened
minds pretend that authority in the work of the ministry, derived
from such a source is the authority which Christ left to His
Church, to be communicated, restricted, and, when necessary, re-
voked, as you have seen in my last letter. The lawfulness of the
mission, the rightful order of sending those who are true ministers
of Christ, is one of the most important subjects of the Christian re-
ligion. We have, even whilst we write, an example which is pro-
nounced to be a melancholy one by all parties. We have the
Prime Minister of England inflicting on what is called the Church
in that country a Bishop, who is declared by a large number of his
Episcopal colleagues a heretic of the Socinian order. They remon-
strated at having the souls and the spiritual interests of the flock in
the Diocese of Hereford abandoned, or given up to the care of such
a shepherd ; but Lord John Russell, the present fountain of mis-
sionsiry authority in England, knows the right qualifications for a
Bishop, and the true spiritual interests of his countrymen, better
than they do, and accordingly he makes out, or causes to be made
out, the necessary documents for the consecration and mission of
the new prelate, with as much nonchalance as if he were regulating
some item of the national debt, or the appointment of a civil magis-
trate. The Bishops may protest, but if any of them refuse to im-
pose hands on their Rt, Rev. Brother-elect, the Minister of the crown
has but to whisper in their ear '■'■ proemnnire" and the magic sound
of this word will instantly cause their scruples to subside.
"70. But, in fact, as to the right of the question there appears no
ground why they should entertain scruples on the subject. Dr.
Hampden is to be consecrated and invested with mission by the
identical authority through which they received and exercise both.
But yet all- this might pass if they stated to the world the nature
and character of their authority just for what it is and no more.
XETTEES ON THE CATHOLIO CHrECH. 621
The wrong wbich I think is done, is in assuming and allowhig a
simple-minded people to believe that the spiritual authority both of
ministerial ordination and pastoral jurisdiction, of which Lord John
Russel was the dispenser, under the crown, is the same authority
which Christ imparted to his Church, for the perpetuation of the
sacred ministry ; and which could not depart from her. In tlie
Catholic Communion, the primitive order has never been changed,
the succession has never been interrupted. The communication of
powers has always been regulated by the same principle and prac-
tice. It is very true that in some Catholic countries the civil ruler
has been permitted, by a condescension of the discipline of the
Church, to nominate and recommend candidates for the Episcopal
order. But the Church never could part with the right to reject
them, when in her judgment they we>-e unfit for the office. She has
never allowed, and never will allow, the powers of this earth to
usurp the authority which she received from Christ, for the rightful
perpetuation of his Apostleship, his Priesthood, his Ministry of spir-
itual life in the preaching of Divine truth, and in the administration
of Divine sacraments. Here, then, are two orders of Bishops preach-
ing against each other ; the one, according to the mission of the
Catholic Church ; and the other, according to the mission of the
British crown. God certainly never sent both ; which, then, of the
two did he send? If the crown of England has become the channel
through which ^e missionary authority delegated by Christ is to be
transmitted, then the claim of the Catholic Church is null and void.
But if, on the other hand, that authority flows on in the original and
Apostolical channel through which it has descended even for the
Christians of the British Isles, in the Church, during the first fifteen
hundred years of Christianity, and in which it still flows through
her universal communion, it follows that the pretense of the British
crown, to be the dispenser of^ it, is a sacrilegious usurpation, and
that the authority of clergymen deriving jurisdiction therefrom is
utterly illusive and invalid. It is hardly necessary for me to add
that the principle of this argument applies with still stronger force
to the supposed ministry of the other denominations into which
Private Reasoners are divided.
71. This, dear reader, is one of the most important subjects to
which you can apply your attention. It would be calamity enough
that the doctrines, so called, of Private Reasoners were nothing but
opinions ; but if, in addition to this, you consider that those who as
clergymen are not, for any thing appears to the contrary, authorized
at all to speak- officially in the name of Christ, or as delegates of His
Church, then the case becomes still more deplorable. If, then, they
are anxious to convert Catholics from the blessed unity of the faith,
and the Holy Communion of the Apostolic Church, let them present
motives for such conversions worthy of the soul whose salvation
their advice would put in jeopardy. Let them deal with us as
rational beings, although not Private Reasoners. Let " Kirwan,"
if he will, address the faithful flock from which circumstances, per-
622 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
haps the calamities of Lis youth, induced him to separate ; atui such
as " Kirwan," who, under names are as numerous as the contradic-
tory sects to which they belong, tell us what advantage, not 6f' this
life, for its advantages would be but a base temptation, but in.refer-
ence to the life to come — what advantages would be secui'ed to us
by forsaking the ark of spiritual salvation in which we enjoy the
happy certainty of faith, the concord of union in belief with our
brethren, the evidence of being under the guidance of thosewho
have been successively sent, from the days of the Apostles and of
Christ, to extend to all nations and to prolong through all time the
preaching of His truths, the works of His ministi-y, and the applica-
tion of His inerits on the Cross. What spiritual advantage could
we derive from the opinions so conflicting and so contradictory
which constitute the Christianity of the Private Reasoners? To
what sect should we attach ourselves? Which denomination, by
their own confession, is superior to any other? What is the char-
acter of their ministry ? Wljo ordained them ? And by what
right? Who gave them their mission ? Who sent them when they
were ordained ? These are questions which if " Kirwan," or any one
else among them can answer, will do more to convert the poor be-
nighted Catholics than a hundred descriptions of St. Patrick's well,
or other objects of popular devotion, perhaps superstition, in the
remote districts of otherwise oppressed, ruined, but still Catholic,
faithful Ireland.
LETTER VIII.
Deae Reader : , ^
72. It does not fall within the purpose of these letters to enter
into any extended minuteness of detail on the questions involved be-
tween the Church and those who are separated from her Commun-
ion. Accordingly you must have perceived that certain topics have
been rather stated than proved, rather glanced at than discussed and
exhausted. Nevertheless, you will find that, without the encun»-
brance of multiplied and learned quotations, the pilh of the matter
has been brought out, on the subject treated of in the preceding
letters. That the facts and reasonings contained in them will be
called in question, and denied, by some of the Private Reasoners, is
quite probable. The individuals who will stand forth from their
broken ranks for this purpose, will trust less to their success in re-
futing either, than in their appeals to your anti-Catholic prejudices
of education. When this comes to pass, do not be troubled ; or if
you be troubled, pray. Appeal from both sides to God and His
Holy Spirit. Ask for light, ask for direction, ask for interior guid-
ance, from the Divine Source of all trutli. Ask in that spirit of
high Christian disinterestedness, which puts this world aside in such
important questions, and then follow the light which God will shed
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC OHUECH. 623
upon your soul, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left fl'om
worldly considerations. This you are bound to do, and I ask no
more.
73. The explanation of this warfare bet^yeen the Church and
those separated from her Communion, is this. At the birth of the
several denominations of Private Reasoners, those who brought
them forth, not in the Lord, attempted to justify their proceeding.
Scripture was perverted by bringing it down to the tribunal of indi-
vidual judgment ; and learned men, now fallen from the fiiith,
worked out injurious, plausible, and pride-flattering opinions, from
the inspired text. Viewed in the abstract, there was no reason why
these opinions might not be as true as the doctrines of the Church
which they expressly contradicted and opposed ; and the system of
the Private Keasoners required that they. should be viewed exclu-
sively in the abstract. To this was exhibited, in reply, the practical
teaching of the Church, during all ages preceding the dispute. But
the Private Reasoners were not to ije outdone so easily. They, too,
appealed to the history of the Church, with the same privilege of
making the tribunal of individual opinion (the incense of flattery of-
fered to man's natural pride, with a view of seducing him,) the ar-
biter of every dispute that has taken place between the Church and
the schismatics who violated her unity, or the heretics whci denied
her doctrine from the beginning. Now, the events of many centu-
ries would furnish, naturally, a vast deal of matter to spin out dis-
cussions, and multiply words withal, against the Church, against the
Lord, and against His Christ. This they have done ; and this they
will do again, even in pretending to refute these letters. But I
think it proper to observe, at the same time, that there is not a
single scriptural or historical objection which they can bring against
what I have said, oi^shp-U say, that has not been already urged and
refuted. If I, then, were to multiply proofs on one side, state and
refute objections on the other, I should do twti things — make this
work too unwieldy for your perusal, and, on the other b.and, not
reach the author of the objections ; for, although his pretended facts
sliould prove to be false, and his pretended reasoning from them
should prove to be not only illogical, but absurd, you being a Pri-
vate Reasoner by system, or personal interest, he could still take
refuge in his individual opinion, and say, " You have not convinced
me, I airi a Private Reasoner still." Thus, he could repeat the same
refuted allegations as often as he pleased. He admits no judge but
himself. B"ut besides all this, there is not a single topic of differ-
ence between the Catholic Church and those who, in modern times,
have strayed away, or been cut off", from her Communion, that is not
discussed and cleared up to the satisfaction of unprejudiced minds ;
and to enter into such a discussion in these letters, would be only to
give out a new edition of what has already been said. Hence it Is
that I content mys,elf with placing before you a general view of the
whole question, reserving special proof and refutation for special
:)biection8, when they fhall have been brought to a cJose.
624 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
1i. From what has already been said, you must begin to have
some idea ot the Catholic Church, as she is conceived of and under-
stood by her own children. You have seen that in her those who
are now teachers, were but lately learners, that they are not author-
ized to preach what they had not been taught. That the interior
call to the ministry could not be availing, unless outwardly sanc-
tioned, recognized, and approved, by the authority pre existing in i
the Church. That by virtue of this authority alone could they
preach, for how could they preach unless they were sent ? And
that the commission conferred by this authority was universally re-
voked, whenever any of them undertook to preach what he had not
learnt. So has it been ever in the Church of God ; and this for the
obvious and fundamental reason to whichT have more than once al-
luded, that the sum of Christian teaching is a body of facts re-
vealed, or confirmed, by our Saviour, of which the Church is the
witness, and of which her ministers are appointed to bear testimony.
But among the Private Reasoners all this order is reversed. There
are no learners, there are no teachers. There is no mission, except
of a modern and purely human character ; there are no orders for
the work of the ministry, except such as mere human authority
could give ; there is no standard of orthodoxy, except a human sym-
bol, imposed through a direct violation of their first principle, wHich
proclaims the " Bible alone" as their rule of faith ; there is no inde-
pendence in their ministry, for if they do not please those whom it
should have been their duty to instruct and teach, they are dismissed
like other public servants ; there is no responsibility, except to what-
e^•er may happen to range, for the time being, as the majority, or at
least the average agreements, of .opinion in the congregations they
address. See what a chasm of difference all this makes between
them and Catholics ! , *
75. In the organization of the Church our Eedeemer did not vary
in principle froin the order established by Heaven for the social
existence and well-being of the human race. 'The organic exercise
of sovereign power and authority, whether m the family or in the
civil state, is narrowed down both by Divine and human institutions,
from its widest range and extent to smaller and yet smaller circles,
until they reach a centre in some one individual. Thus the father
is the head and centre of the family, representing the unity of do-
mestic government. Thus the Mayor is the head and centre of
municipal authority in the city. Thus the Governor, in the State.
Thus the President, as the head and centre of the United States,
represents the concentrated power of the confederation in its essen-
tial form of unity. If this principle, as directly ordained in the fam-
ily, by the appointment of God himself, and as indirectly at least,
sanctioned in the civil state, be so necessary that society could not
be held together without it, it would be strange if our Blessed
Saviour left his Church exposed to the anarchy by which the ab-
sence of it could not have failed to introduce.
The grand idea of the Churcli, as proposed by her Divine Foun-
LETTBKS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 625
der, was to unite all mankind in one brotherhood of a common faith,
a common hope, and a common charity, mutually held together in
the most intimate communion of those spiritual affections which
religion creates in the soul. But such a society could not exist
without some supreme individual head and centre, as the represen-
tative of its unity and power ; and it is singular that the very name
given to the Supreme visible head of the Church expresses the
proper relation to such Christian brotherhood ; since he is not called
King, or Emperor, or President, but Pope or Father.
76. As successor to one of the Apostles, he is simply Bishop of
Rome. As, however, that Apostle was not merely -one of the
twelve, but Peter, the first and chief of the Apostolic body, so the
Bishop of Rome has ever exercised the prerogatives of the common
Father, arid the universal Primate of the Catholic Church. He is
the visible centre of the Unity. The visible Head of her commun-
ion ; her supreme visible Ruler upon earth. The other BisL.^ps of
the Church are no less of the Apostolic order than he ; but inasmuch
as St. Peter alone was invested with power and comriaission which
had not been given to any other Apostle individually, or to them all
colIecti\eIy ; inasmuch as to Peter alone the care of the entire flock
of Christ had been committed ; inasmuch as Our Lord had prayed
for him alone, that his faith should not fail, and commanded him
alone, being once converted, to confirm his brethren ; inasmuch as
in language like this, Peter alone was divinely ordained the supreme
Pastor on earth of the Christian fold ; inasmuch as the unity and
authority of the Church, extended throughout the world, required
for its organization and exercise some individual supremacy ; that
function has always been claimed, and always been exercised, by
the successors of St. Peter alone. This supremacy of the Pope is as
much an article of Christ's revelation, an article of Divine faith, in
the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, as is the doctrine of
the Blessed Trinity.
11. We see in this economy the wisdom and the goodness of our
Blessed Redeemer. For by it the Church is provided with a su-
preme authority, exercised under Divine appointment, and guaran-
tied by Divine and infallible promises. "Without it the Unity of the
one sheepfold, under the one Shepherd, could not be maintained.
"Without it the believing people of Christ's fold could not be preserved
from the doctrinal errors which apostate or heretical bishops might
introduce and impose on them, as the very teachings of their Saviour.
"Without it, in the absence of responsibility, the rite essential for the
ordination of priests and the consecration of Bishops might be disre-
garded. "Without it, as we see in England, a Prime Minister, even
though he should be himself an infidel, (which we have no reason to
suppose is the case at present,) would become the source, necessa-
rily the barren source, of spiritual power and jurisdiction to persons
still calling themselves Bishops of the Church of God. "Without it,
the Episcopal body would soon be divided among themselves, and
preach in opposition to one another, even as is the case among the
40
620 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
Private Keasoners. Without it an Arius would have triumphed*
over an Athanasius ; and the great Confessor of Alexandria would
have been crushed by the factions of heresy which his zeal for the
truth had caused to rise against him. Without it the principle of
local majorities would enable Bishops to tyrannize over minorities ;
and in the wantonness of irresponsible power, which that principle
secures in ecclesiastical matters, enable them to degrade and trample
upon their weak and erring brother, leaving him without appeal, with-
out resource or remedy ; an object of scorn and of scoffing for the pro-
fane ; an object of pity and commiseration for the virtuous. With-
out the supremacy of the Pope, in short, the doctrines of the Church
would degenerate into mere human opinions ; the government of
the Church into every species of anarchy, tyranny, and confusion.
78. Our Blessed Lord, ho doubt, could have organized His
Church on dijBferent principles, and could have provided for its safety
and perpetuation according to whatever principle He might have
adopted. On the principle of the Private Reasoners, the idea of a
Supreme Pastor, in the government of what they call the Church, ,
would be a supreme absurdity ; and as they are very wise, in their
own estimation, they no doubt, look upon Catholics as singularly
blind in not regarding the supremacy of the Pope as they do. The
authority of the Pope, however, does not result from the advan-
tages which the recognition of it secures to the Catholic Church ;
but it results from the authority of Christ, delegated to St. Peter,
individually in the first instance, and through him to his legitimate
successors in all ages. It is a portion of His Divine revelation to
man. It is His institution, as a part, an integral part of the Church
which He founded, to which all other institutions had an essential
reference, and without which they would have been not only in-
complete, but also ineffective. Now, as a historical fact, it is beyond
all controversy that the Bishops of Rome have, in all ages of Chris-
tianity, been acknowledged bytheir cotemporaries, as the certain
and legitimate successors of St. Peter. Nor should it be over-
looked by you as something, which attests to Catholics the es-
pecial protection of God to the line of that succession, that the
other Episcopal Sees, founded by the Apostles, have, in the revolu-
tions of the world, disappeared, that all possibility of identifying
the Episcopal succession as derived from any other one of the
twelve in particular, has passed away, whilst that founded by St.
Peter still remains, and the direct succession of the principality
which Christ conferred upon him, in the government of the whole
Church, has descended from one to another, in the line of his suc-
cessors, name by name, Vith as much regularity as is discoverable
in the history of any temporal sovereignty in the world. Neither
is this order disturbed by the rivalship of different claimants which
sometimes scandalized the Church. All recognized, even then, the
supremacy of Peter, in the legitimate successors of his Apostle-
ship ; and the only question, was a question of fact, which further
evidence never failed, ultimately, to determine.
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUKCH. 627
19. As I have remarked already, it does not fall within the pur-
pose of these letters to collect the historical testimonies by which
the supremacy of the Holy See is established, as a matter of fact,
in the several ages which have elapsed sinee the origin of Chris-
tianity. And I can the more willingly omit such testimonies, as a
work expressly devoted to this subject, from the pen of the learned
Cathohc Bishop of Philadelphia, is announced as being now in
press. It is enough for my purpose to state that I am not acquainted
with any period of titiie' in which the Bishop of Rome did not
exercise powers which are utterly inexplicable, except on the hy-
pothesis of his acknowledged supremacy whether that word was in
use to express that power or not. From the very beginning we find
him interfering, to use an expressive term, in matters which, if
right, would seem to belong to the other Bishops complaining of
the interference, or denying his right to take cognizance of what
was going on in the several portions of the Church subject to his
jurisdiction. It is true that remonstrances have been sometimes
addressed to him by other Bishops, but always in the respectful
and deferential language due to superior authority, and what is
most remarkable is, that these remonstrances never questioned
the substance of his right to interfere, but always had reference to
the form, or some incidental circumstance of that interference. I
find in all ages that his interference vas invoked and appealed to as
the sovereign by wliich alone, the evils and disorders that afflicted
the Church, to the furthest bounds of Christendom, might bte
healed, or removed. I find that whilst, in the earlier ages, the first
or the primitive Christians, and his own humility may have ren-
dered it unnecessary and inexpedient to define, either in speech or
in writing, the extent, or the nature of the supremacy, which, as
the successor of St. *Peter, he was charged with, he exercised never-
theless, whenever the occasion required, the power which that word
implies. I find Nestorius appealing to him, in the Fifth Century, on
behalf of his new doctrine, just as Luther did, in support of his,
at the beghining of the Sixteenth ; and we may reasonably con-
clude, that if he had not condemned the errors of both, neither of
whom would ever have denied his supremacy. I find that in all
ages the blessed Apostle, St. Peter, was regarded and spoken of, as
having been distinguished from the other Apostles by special and
peculiar honors and prerogatives which the Divine Master con-
ferred on him alone.
80. Thus the evangelist St. Matthew : " Simon Peter answering
said : Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus an-
swering, said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona : because flesh
and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I say to thee, That thou art Peter : and upon this rodi I
will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also
in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed
628 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
also in heaven." St. Mattbew, xvi. 16, 19. "What is here narrated
by the inspired •writer had taken place several years before. It is
not the record of the text that gave this prerogative to the chief of
the Apostles, but it is recorded as a historical fact which had taken
■place in the life and ministry of Our Divine Redeemer. You per-
ceive that it has reference to Peter alone. What does it mean ?
The answer to this question Catholics have ever had, and have, in the
teaching and practice of the Church. The answer to this they
would have had, whether St. Matthew had written his Gospel or not.
Again, we find in the twenty-second chapter of St. Luke, that when
Satan desired to have the Apostles, that he might sift them as
wheat, Our Divine Saviour prayed, but the prayer, as the text re-
marks, was for Peter alone, as if in his safety there was security for
them all. Had this conduct and language of Our Blessed Saviour
no meaning ? If it had not, why was it employed ? If it had,
what else could it be, than what the Church has ever taught upon the
subject ? Again still, in the twenty-first chapter of St. John, after,
our Saviour's resurrection, twice does He command Peter to feed the
sheep of His fold. Thus Peter alone was made the shepherd of the
entire flock, and in this was fulfilled what Christ had elsewhere said
in the tenth chapter of St. John : " And other sheep I have that
are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice ; and there shall be made one fold and one shepherd." I
might call your attention to many other passages of the Sacred
Writing, in which the pre-eminence and primacy of St. Peter are
most distinctly recorded. But these will be sufiicient, and especially
taken in connection with the whole history of the Catholic Church,'
in which, de facto as well as de jure, the successors of St. Peter have
always exercised the primacy and pre-eminence thus conferred on
him, with the universal approbation of the Church, and without a
reclamation, except from the Private Reasoners of the different
ages, whose heterodox opinions it was the duty of the Popes, both
as the supreme guardian of the faith, and as the official organ of the
Church, to condemn and anathematize.
LETTER IX.
Dear Reader :
81. The whole of this subject of the Church, certainly the most
important in the entire range of Christian theology, may after what
has already been said, be comprised in a few paragraphs. • The
great difference between Catholics and Private Reasoners is this ;
the foriner naturally, and by the institutions Of Christ, look for the
truth of revelation in and through that visible Society of men origi-
nally receiving it from Him, and perpetuated with a moral identity
of continuation, until the present day. The Private ReaSoners, on
the other hand discard Society altogether, and seek for the truths of
religion without intervention, prepared to build up what they call
LETTERS "ON THE CATHOLIC CHCTECH. C29
a Churcli formed fi-om the results of their individual private inter-
pretation of Holy Scriptures. The Church of God on earth is
composed of men, but to these men Christ imparted the deposit
of eternal truth, with command to preserve, and authority to prop^
agate the same until the end of the world. Now Catholics know,
as well as Private Reasoners, that men, as such, are fallible ; but,
they do not suppose, with Private Reasoners that the fallibility of
man's nature is to triumph over the wisdom and the power of
Christ in the preservation and perpetuation of those saving truths
which were originally communicated by Him for the salvation of
the world, and the knowledge and certainty of which were as
essential to all generations, as they were to that in which He spoke
and taught.
82. Remark accordingly; that the Holy Scriptures and the early
Christian writers, in their reference to the doctrine of Our Saviour,
constantly point to the Society that had received those doctrines, and
never, at least, in a sense, that would exclude the Society, to the
doctrines themselves in the abstract. The principle involved in this
mode of reference is analogous to that by which one would reach
the soul of some fellow-being. Man is so constituted that he can
take cognizance of the body in which it dwells, but not of the spirit
itself, except through its manifestations in the body. Now, the in-,
spired written Word of God frequently designates the Church.as the
Body of Christ, as if to adopt the great institution of His Spiritual
kingdom of the earth to the actual condition of our nature, so that
we may not, like the Private Reasoners, be as children tossed to and
fro, by every wind of doctrine, looking for the Spirit ; but that see-,
ing the body around us, and in the midst of us, wherever the
Church is found, from the rising to the setting of the sun, we may
there find, with certainty, what they seek for elsewhere in vain.
Where the Body of Christ is, there is His Spirit, there are His
promises, there is His doctfine ; and as the soul in man manifests
itself through corporal faculties, so also the truth, and the ^teaching,
and the knowledge of God, as the soul of the Church, exhibit them-
selves in a sensible manner through the organic faculties of this,
Christ's Mystical Body. The Church's manner of teaching is hu-
man, and such also was the manner of the Apostles, and of the
Saviour, by whom she has been founded ; but this is only her earthly
phase ; this is only the process of bringing out to the visible world
the Divine light once kindled, and now inextinguishable in her
conscientiousness and in her intelligence. The medium, if you
please, dims, in the transition, the brightness of the heavenly,
illumination which it transmits ; but it is fitted and adapted to the
feebleness of human vision, so that when the eye of the mind comes,
to rest upon the awful jnysteries which the Church teaches, the
economy of God's institution is such that the brightness does not
overwhelm us. Men live and move in the light of day, but itoomes
to their sight reflected and not by direct beams, as if their eyes
were strong to enrounter the glare of the noon-day sun.
010 AECHBISHOP HrGllES.
83. The Church is composed, therefore, of two parts ; the ona
representing the Body of Christ, the other His Soul. Inasmuch as
this Body is composed of men, it is human ; but inasmuch as it is
animated by the Spirit of Him whose Body it is, the Church, is
Divine. She proceeds in all her oflBcial acts, either in determining
the truth that God comitiitted to her keeping, or in condemning the
error specially opposed to any portion of that truth, in a two fold
manner. The first decision which she ever gave, in her corporate
capacity, is that recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the Apostles'
Acts ; when some "coming down from Judea, taught the brethren
that except you be circumcised after the manner of the law of
Moses, you cannot be' feaved." Here was a small specimen of
what we have called Private Reasoning. Paul and Barnabas
were present, and for a moment involved in the discussion. ' But
instead of deciding the question, either by appealing to the Bible,
or to the authority of inspiration, which St. Paul undoubtedly pcs-
sessed, the matter is referred to the Church in the aggregate of her
prerogative. This is the proceeding according to the human form
of the Body of the Church. Statements and counter-statements
having, no doubt, been observed, and pains taken, after the human
manner, to sift out from extraneous matter, the true and precise prop-
osition on which a decision was solicited. This done, the Church is
about to pronounce, and Peter, in the name of the Church, utters
the decision also in a human manner, but, at the same time, with a
direct leaning on the Divine and invisible element which constitutes
the source of her eternal in-errency. " And when there had been
much disputing, Peter, rising up, said to them : My brethren, you
know that in former days God made choice among us, that by my
mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and be-
lieve. And God who knoweth the hearts, gave testimony, giving
unto them the Holy Ghost as well as to us.- And put no diflerence
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now there-
fore why tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the
disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear ?
But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved,
in like manner as they also. And all the multitude held their
peace." — Acts xv. 7-12.
This may be regarded as the preamble, or introduction to the
final sentence which the Church was about to pronounce. But
when that sentence is to be uttered, you perceive that it is not
men alone, since, in the 28th verse we read, "For it hath seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no further burden," etc.
84. This example, which is recorded in the inspired volume,
must necessarily have taken place in the practice of the Church, an-
terior to its being committed to writing. The Church has never
deviated from the practical rule here laid down by her founders.
At whatever period error appeared and was advocated, so that any
portion of the Church of Christ was liable to be led from the faith,
by its delusiveness, the Church, either by the assembling of the na-
LETTERS OX THE CATHOLIC CUUECH, 631
tions under tbe primacy of Peter ; or by the mouth of Peter, in the
person of his successors, employed diligence to investigate and study
more thoroughly the relations of the primitive doctrine on the ques-
tion agitated, as also of the error opposed to that doctrine, and all
this in the human manner ; but when, finally, the sentence was to
be pronounced, discriminating between the article which was of
faith, and the new heretical proposition, the judgment was always
substantially uttered in the same language : it hath seemed good
to the Holy Ghost and to us. After the sentence was pronounced,
there was no excuse for those who forsook the Church and attached
themselves to the Private Reasoners of the several ages that have
since elapsed. _ And as the human body, when in a sound and
healthy condition, drives forth the noxious humors, and repels the
infections that would taint it, so the Church, by God's appointment,
economized the fullness of its interior life, by removing all the ex-
crescences of private error, which would at once have deformed
its comeliness and wasted the resources of its spiritual health, if
they had been allowed to adhere to it. They might live, or seem
to live, for a little while by the power of their great communion
with her. But presently disputes among themselves, errors more
extravagant than these first thought of — division and sub-division
among them gave manifest evidence that in leaving the Church, they
carried forth with them no perennial fountain of spiritual vitality.
So it was with the Judaisers mentioned in the text ; so with the
Ebionites and the Nazareans ; so with the Gnostics, Nioolai-
tans, the Cerinthians, the Basilideans, and Saturninians, the
Valentinians, the Carpocratians, the Marcionites, the Montanists,
the Manicheans, the Sabellians, the Arians, the Nestorians, the Eu-
tychians, the Pelagians, the Albigenses, the WyckliffeitesJ the Huss-
ites, not to name thousands of other sects that seemed to live a little
while, until the remnant of vitality which they brought forth from
the Catholic Church was exhausted. Whilst they seemed to flourish
they were actually fading away ; and so it is now with those who
have been seduced from the Church by the private reasoning of
Calvin, Luther, Socinius, Cranmer, and the others in the land of Lu-
ther, his followers have glided, almost unconsciously to themselves,
into rank infidelity — whilst they read the Bible, however, and then
reason upon it. In the "land of Calvin it is the same. In England
there is a genteel conformity among the genteel people to certain
statutory forms of religion; the ungenteel, that in the lower classes,
remaining enveloped in the thickest folds of brutal ignorance and
vice. In this country the actual condition of Private Reasoners
may be described in four words ; indifierence in, part, fanatacism in
part smaller still, with a large portion of infidelity on one side, and
a small counterpoise of calm and sober " religiosity" on the other.
But whether you speak of Germany, Switzerland, France or America,
the word which expresses the general condition everywhere is con-
fusion ! Confusion ! ! Confusion ! ! ! That is to say, religious dis-
agreement, religious controversies, religious divisions, to the end of
632 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
the chapter. Such is the harvest which the enemy of truth is reap-
ing fi-om the labors of those who were separated from the Church in
the Sixteenth Century.
85. It is a great relief to the mind to turn away from this melan-
choly state of things among the Private Reasoners to the calm,
steady, and uniform course of the Church for a period of more ,than
eighteen hundred years. She sends the same message of salvation
to the east and to the west, to the north and the south, until she
shall have delivered it to all nations, and have imbued with its
heavenly meaning the hearts of all people, and tribes, and nations.
When individuals, or even mighty nations with their rulers, prove
themselves unworthy of such an inheritance, she cuts them off, be
they prelates, kings, nobles, or peasants. She knows no distinction,
and when such interests are involved, she has no consciousness
of fear, no calculations of the contingencies of futurity. Nor is it
necessary that the cause should involve the denial of all her doc-
trines. It is enough that any one doctrine of the deposit of Christ's
revelation should be obstinately denied, to entail that sentence by
which the infected member shall be separated from her commu-
nion. If by an extravagant supposition of an impossible contin-
gency, all the Bishops of France, Germany, and Italy, should
deny obstinately any one doctrine defined by the Council of Trent,
she would excommunicate them with greater pain, but with as little
reservation as if they were but as Rouge in Germany, or " Kirwan"
among ourselves. On the other hand, while she is animated with
the most ardent and tender zeal for the gathering of souls into the
fold of Christ, she could not abate one jot or tittle of her doctrine
to secure the return of the nations that have fallen from her faith,
or the conversion of the whole world. If she were capable of doing
the one or the other, she would not be the Church that Jesus Christ
established on the earth.
86. These remarks, however, apply only to the deposits of faith
over which she has no control, except that of Divinely appointed
guardian, witness, and unerring expositor. Here is the distinction
in the Church betwixt matters that are of originial and Divine
authority, and those which result from ecclesiastical legislation.
The Church had a right to arrange the outward form of her self-
. government according to the exigency of times and of circum-
stances. Certainly, when she offered the Holy Sacrifice of her liturgy
at the tombs of martyrs in -the Catacombs and hiding places of
Pagan Rome, she did not appear to outward vision the same as
when she performs her symbolic rights surrounded by the pomp and
magnificence — if any thing that man can do in the worship of God
deserves to be called magnificent — under the mighty dome of St.
Peter's. So, with regard to all ecclesiastical laws enacted simply
by her authority ; so with regard to her whole code of canonical
legislation ; so with regard to her entire discipline, so far as it de-
rives its authority from her enactments— it is manifest in all these
matters, that the same power v.'hich enacted the law, has the right,
LETTEES ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECII. 633
in certain given cases, to dispense with its observation, or if the ex
igency required, to abrogate it altogether. The Church, herself as
the witness, and the doctrines received by her from Christ and His
Apostles, constitute, together, the things of which testimony is to
be borne and the witness who is to testify. These are unchangeable ;
these are indestructible ; these are infallible. Infallible truths revealed
by the Son of God, and an infallible witness and teacher of them
until the end of time. And hence nothing that has occurred in this
world since the days of Christ and His Apostles can be made the
foundation of any article of Divine faith in the Communion of the
Catholic Church.
87. We cannot help smiling, therefore, when writers so ignorant,
or so erudite as " Kirwan," impute to us the belief of the Catholic
faitjh on account of any miracles that have or may have taken place in
the Church, since the days of the Apostles. Every Catholic believes
that many miracles have occurred. He believes that in the Church
there is an abiding promise, through which God does manifest his
power, according to the faith of individual members, when and in
what manner he pleases. But if you ask whe'ther any Catholic is bound,
as a Catholic, to believe that this or that other spBcial event, since
the days of the Apostles, is, or is not, a miracle, my answer is,
that he has a right to judge according to the evidences presented to
his mind. In certain cases, the evidence is so strong that according
to the ordinary laws of 'the human mind ho is compelled to believe.
But when this does occur, his belief is an act of human or personal,
but necessarily of Divine or Catholic faith. Such events being pos-
terior in their occurrence to the days of the Apostles, are not
proposed to us as the foundation of any one dogma, or article
of Divine belief That many really miraculous events have oc-
cured, cannot be doubted. That many others pretending to
be miracles, but which were either accidental, or intentional illusions
and deceptions, no one wishes to deny. On all these subjects the
minds of our Private Reasoners, for the most part, when otherwise
well informed, are exceedingly ignorant. There are two reasons
for this. One is, that naturally they do not know what the Catho-
Uc faith is ; and the other, that in their mode of learning they are
sure to arrive at a distorted, false, confused and unreal ideaof it.
It vv'ould be an easy matter to give them a Inowledge of what the
Catholic faith is, if their minds were now in the neutral condition
of simple ignorance. But as it is, it would be necessary for them
to have removed from their imaginations the false ideas which a
systematic training in the wrong direction has created in regard to
Catholic faith. "Kirwan," however, is but one of a class infected
with the same malady. To attempt to refute the nonsense of their
conceptions is but to aggravate their disease. And the only cure
for them is information and instruction, which they could find in
the Catholic catechism.
88. Such ignorance, among the mass of Private Reasoners is, to
come extent, excusable, whilst it is quite the reverse in those who
634 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
set themselves up as leaders and teachers of Divine truth. How
will they answer to God ? How will they answer to the souls
whom they undertake to guide, for such perversions in regard to the
Church of Christ, in which alone is the fullness and perfection of
spiritual life ? They ought to be acquainted with the writings of
the Christian Fathers of the early ages who speak of the Church, not
as an imaginary fantasy of an invisible Church, but of the Church
as an outward Society, such as she has been described in these let-
crs. But if they make it a point to disregard Christian historical testi-
mony on this subject, you at least, dear reader, should ponder on the
meaning of those passages of the Holy Scriptures referring to the
glorious institutions of the Church of Christ. For instance :
" In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on
the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills : and all nations shall
flow into it." — Isaias ii. 2.
" The stone that struck the statue became ^ great mountain, and filled the whole
earth. ***** B^t in the days of those kingdoms, the God of Heaven
will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed : and his kingdom shall not be
delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume
all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever." — Daniel ii. 35, 44.
" And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of
the Lord shall he prepared in the top of mountains, and high above the hills : and
people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come in haste, and say : Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob : and
He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths ; for the lasv shall go
forth out of Sion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." — Mich. iv. 1, 2.
That these passages are' to be understood of the Church, appears
from the allusion of Our Blessed Saviour, St. Matt. v. 14 : " You
are the light of the world; a city that is net on a mountain, cannot
be hid." So the early Fathers have understood and spoken of
those passages, as referring to the Church.
89. From all this, it is manifest that whoever would be guided
in the way that God had appointed must unite himself to the visi-
ble communion of the Church, otherwise he will come under the de-
scription given by St. Irenteus, of the Private Reasoners of the
Second Century.
" All these are very much later than the Bishops to whom the Apostles deliv-
ered the Churches, and this we have proved, with the greatest care, in the third book.
Therefore the aforesaid heretics, because they are blind to the truth, are under the
necessity of wandering irregularly, first in one, and then in another path, and on
this account the traces of their doctrines are scattered without any uniformity or
connections. But the pathway of those who are in the Church, circles the
whole universe, for it has a firm tradition from the Apostles, and gives us to see
that the faith of all is one and the same." — Adv. Haer. L. r. c. 20.
This description is quite applicable both to their condition and to
that of the Church at the present day. The Church is spread
through all nations. The Church is a visible Society. The Church
is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. The Church is indestructible.
The Church is infallible, unless, indeed, the Private Reasoners go so
far as to say that Christ, her Founder, was fallible.
90. I can imagine some of them saying, all is assertion, mere hu-
man reasoning, or, at best, authority of the Fathers, whereas wb
LETTERS ON THE CATHOLIC CHUECH. 635
want to have Srriptm-e for ovr belief. " To the law and to the tes-
timony," is our motto. And the Word of God says to us, " Search
the Scriptures." I have to remark that in this last sentence it is not
clear whether the text should read, " Search the Scriptures," or
"You do search the Scriptures;" but in either case the searching
the Scriptures was not for the purpose of studying -out any doc-
trine of the Revelation, but simply to ascertain and to determine a
fact, viz. : whether Our Saviour was the person spoken of in the
Scriptures of the Old Testament as the Messiah, or not. So, also,
with regard to the Church. The Scriptures bear ample testimony as
to the fact of her institution, of her office, as the living and unerring
teacher of God's Word, of her perpetuity, and other attributes. In
all of which, we are enjoined to hear and be taught by her instead
of searching the Scriptures for ourselves. Thus, already in the
Apostolic age, St. John, the last of the Apostles^ writes in his first
Epistle, chap. iv. 1,6:
" Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they he
of God ; because many false prophets are gone out into the world "We
are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us; he that is not of God, heareth
us not. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
In Hebrews, chap. xiii. 1 and 17 : " Remember your Prelates who have spoken
to you the word of God; considering well the end of their conversation
Obey your Prelates, and be subject to them. For they watch as being to render
an account of your souls."
Again to Timothy, Ep. 1, chap. iii. 14-15 : " These things I write to thee hoping
that 1 shall come to thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of
the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
These instructions are addressed not to the immediate disciples of
Christ, but to the dispersed converts, who were the disciples of the
Apostles. When their teachers were absent, they supplied by
writing, in these instances, instructions which they would have given
by word of mouth, if they had been present. Thus St. Paul writing
to the Ephesians, chap. iv. 1 1-14 :
" And some, indeed, began to be Apostles, and some prophets, and others Evangel-
ists, and others pastors and doctors : for the perfection of the Saints, for the work
of the ministry, unto the edification of the Body of Christ : unfil we all meet in
the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ : that henceforth we may be no
more children tossed to and fro. and carried about with every wind of doctrine, in
the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive."
In the Acts of the Apostles, chap. xx. 28 :
" Takp heed to yourselves and to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost hath
placed you Bishops, to rule the Church of God, which He hnth purchased with
His own blood." And, in like manner, in chap. xv. 28-41 : " For it hath seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no further burden upon you than these
necessary things And he ( Paul) went through Syria and Cilicia, con-
firmiiig.the Churches, commanding them to keep the precepts of the Apostles and
the ancients."
91. If we pass now to the primary authority of the Gospels them-
selves, in which the words, not of an Apostle, but of Jesus Christ
636 AECHBISI-IOP HTJGIIES.
Plimself, are recorded, we shall find such declarations as the foliowr
ing:
St. Matt, xxviii. 18-20: ''AH power is giyeti to Me in Heaven and in earth. Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe aU things what-
soever I have commanded yo\i : And lo, I am with you all days, even to the con-
summation of the world." And again:
Luke X. 16 : " He that heareth you, heareth Me ; and he that despiseth you, de-
spiseth Me ; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him tliat sent Me." And Matt.
xvi. 18 : " And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this roek I will build
my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Again, Matt.
xviii. 17 : "And if he will not hear them, tell the Church ; and if he will not hear
the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican."
That the power thus conferred was intended for all future time,
is evident, from St. John xiv. 16, 17 :
" And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He
may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive
because it seoth Him not, nor knoweth llim, but you shall know Him because
He shall abide with you and shall be in you."
Innumerable other passages might be adduced, proving beyond
all controversy, as a fact, the institutions of the Church of God, as
an outward and visible Society, from which alone, the truths of- rev-
elation ascertained, in communion with which alone, the individual
man is to be incorporated with the Mystical Body of Christy to
receive light, and life, and salvation through Him. If our Private
Reasoners were sincere in pretending to take the Scriptures for
their rule of belief, these testimonies would be quite sufficient to
prove to them that the Bible, in every page, directs them to cease
from their wand'erings, and to seek security in God's One, Holy,
Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
"KIBWAN" UNMASKED.
A REVIEW OF " KIRWAN" IN SIX LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO THE REV.
NICHOLAS MURRAY, D. D., OF ELIZABETHTOWN, S. J., BY THE
RIGHT REV. JOHN HUGHES, BISHOP OF NEW YORK.
To "Kirwan" alias the Bev. Nicliolas Murray, D. D., of Elizcfbethtown,
New Jersey :
Dear Sir — So long as you wore a mask, which no honest man
need ever wear in a free country like this, I was excused, on your
own admission, from any obligation to notice you. 'Now that you
have cast it aside, I feel no longer bound to adhere to my first
resolution.
Your letters purport to explain the reasons why you left the
Roman Catholic, Church and became a Presbyterian. The object
of mine will be to review tl»ose reasons. If I shall succeed in re-
"EIKWAN" UJfMASKED. 637
fating tliem, and assigning others more in accordance with the facts
of the case, I will not trouble myself with answering those in your
second series under the head of reasons why yon do not return. If
the deserters from the American flag in the Mexican campaign,
(among whom, I am sorry to say, were some Irishmen,) can justify
themselves for having fled from the ranks of their country, the
world will readily dispense with their reasons for not returning. The
enemy, no doubt, received them with that mingled feeling of joy at
the treason and contempt for the traitor, which, on the whole, is
rather honorable than otherwise in the character of human nature-^
whilst the gallant army they had forsaken had the consolation to
know that after their departure, it contained in each case, at least
one coward less than before. But friends and foes would take it
as a matter of course that such persons would have good reasons
for not returning.
The Catholic Church, however, has a mother's heart, and not a
warrior's. If at any time, moved by the grace of God, you should
knock at her gates, as a penitent, she would receive you as such,
and rejoice at your restoration. Considering the importance which
you attach to your going out from her communion, thirty years ago,
never, never, to return, you must admit that she has borne your ab-
sence with great resignation; in fact, amidst the numerous defec-
tions from the faith which loneliness and poverty entail on juvenile
immigrants and orphan boys of Irish and Catholic parentage in tliis
country, an individual case like yours might easily have escaped her
notice. But you have taken from her the bliss of ignorance in the
])refnises. " Kirwan" tells her that you, Nicholas Alurray, now a
Presbyterian clergyman, gave her the cold shoulder, when you were
quite a boy, thirty years ago. N"ay, more ; he says that one of the
means employed by her for arresting the progress of sin, was by you
turned into an opportunity of additional sinning— " you always
found," he says, " that you could play your pranks better after con-
fession than before." . . . This inward reading of yourself, at so
early an'age, should have convinced you that already, and unknown
to yourself, you were a genuine Protestant book, done up, some
how, by mistake, in Catholic binding.
I honor the man who, under his responsibility to God, has the
moral courage to change his religion, when, after mature investiga-
tion, he cbnscieiitiously believes that he is passing from error to
■truth. It is a great and solemn act. When it is attended, as it
BOfnetimes is, by the greatest sacrifice of worldly interest, and is
manifestly done for the soul's and God's and truth's sake, it be
comes, in iliy estimation, the most heroic and sublime act that man
is capable of performing on the earth. I do not say that it is always
insincere even when the convert promotes his temporal interests by
the change. But, in the latter case, it loses much of the influence
which, as ah example, it would otherwise exercise on the public
mind. Neither do I regard it as improper that he who has ex-
perienced such a change, should assign the reasons that brought it
638 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
about. But in assigning them, all serious men would expect that
they should be good and true reasons. Now, I propose, in reply to
your letters, to prove that the reasons assigned by you are not good
reasons in themselves, and that even if they were, in the nature
of things, they found no place in th6 circumstances of your supposed
conversion from '' Popery" to Presbyterianism.
Tour letters, so far as regards the grammatical construction of
phrases, and a correct and almost elegant use of Anglo-Saxon words,
are not unworthy of the country which produced a Dean Swift or
a Goldsmith. They are also pervaded by a silvery thread of wit,
which is unmistakably Irish, but which too often, in your letters,
runs into profanity. As a logician, you are entitled to little praise.
As a theologian, even on the Protestant system, to less still ; whilst
as an upright, candid adversary, honestly laboring to overthrow doc-
trines believed to be erroneous, you can lay claim to none whatever.
Two things, at the outset, tell very badly against you. You rep-
resent me as teaching a doctrine which I do not believe, and yet, .
in various unexpected forms, you profess to render me the homage
of your respect. Now, dear sir, let me say, that if you believe me.
to be a deceiver of my fellow-Catholics, you cannot have entertained
any respect for my character, unles your moral perceptions are too
dim to discover any difference between vice and virtue. If you pro-
fess a respect, which you do not feel, it is equally manifest that your
standing of morals is artificial, subject to the control of your will
and your pen. In either case you are inconsistent, and it is, perhaps,
well for you that you did not write your letters under the solemnity
of an oath, in which case something like perjury would come out
on the cross-examination.
By what right, sir, did you assume that I am not sincere in the
Catholic faith ? And if you did assume it, by what rule of hy-
pocrisy and falsehood did you stultify yourself by professing re-
spect for my character ? You could find the premises of such a
false and uncharitable conclusion only in your heart, or mine. To
mine you have had no access, and ^ou should have been cautious in
proclaiming such discoveries as could have been derived, only by
analogy, from your own.
I believe the truth of the doctrines taught by the Holy Catholic
Church as firmly as I do my own existence. Nay, more. I beheve
that, as containing the fullness of Divine revelation, it is the only
true Church on the earth — although many true Catholic doctrines
are found floating about as opinions in the religious atmosphere of
Protestantism. This is my profession of faith, of the sincerity of
which t he Almighty is my witness ; and I am not aware that I Live
ever gi\en you, or any other human being, reason to infer, by word
or action, that I believed otherwise.
I must decline, therefore, the tender of your respect for my char-
acter. But I would not have you on that account to regai'd me as
an enemy. On the contrary, I would be your friend ; and the high-
est proof of this which you have left in my power to offer, is the
"kiewan" UjSTMasked. 639
sincere declaration that, as a fellow-being, you have my plty~and
best wishes withal. ' I shall begin to analyze your reasons next
week. .J. John Hughes, Bishop of New York.
LETTER II.
To "Kirwan,'" ^lias the Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., of Mizabeihtown,
New Jergey :
Dear Sir — The merit of your letters, if they have any in the
eyes of sincere Protestants, is in the supposed fact that you were
brought up and instructed in the Catholic religion ; and that your
testimony is more trustworthy, on this account, than if you had
been born and brought up a Protestant.
This is, in fact, the ground which you hav.e taken. You speak of
yourself, of your knowledge and experience of the Catholic religion,
of your reasons for renouncing it, from the beginning to the end of
your letters. You are, the witness in the cause ; you are the hero of
the romance ; and it will be impossible for me to do justice to the
review, without paying attention to the prominent personality which
you have established for yourself, in assigning the reasons of your
conversion.
The first position which I intend to establish then, u, ^...a. - :
never produced a peasant more ignorant of the Catholic religion,
than you wej'e when you renounced the creed of your fathers and
became an infidel. For the proof of this position you shall be my
witness. Turn to your first letter and read your own words :
" I first became an infidel. Knowing nothing of religion but
that which was taught me by my parents and priests, and thinking
that that was the sum of it, when that was rejected infidelity
became my only alternative. "^page 11.
" On reaching the years of maturity my mind was a perfect blank
as to all religious instruction." — page 30.
" With ray Missal I was somewhat familiar ; I said the Catechism
when I was confirmed, at the age of nine or ten, and that was the
amount of my religious education. At the age of eighteen years
the catechism was forgotten, and the Missal was neglected, and as
my conscience was uneducated, and my mind unfurnislied with re-
ligious principles, the only test of truth left me was my common
sense." — page 31.
This was precisely the age at which you left the Church and be-
came an infidel. Your " mind was a perfect blank as to all religious
instruction." In other words, you were perfectly ignorant of the
religion which you were about to reject, and, if we can trust to your
own language, this ignorance was the only reason going before and
determining your conversion to infidelity.
The reader may suppose that in proclaiming your profound ig-
norance of religi'on, your meaning is, that you understood the
640 AECHBISIIOP HUGHES.
Catholic faith, in which you were brought up, but that you were
as yet ignorant of the pure evangelical doctrines which you have
since embraced. But this would be a mistake. Your meaning is,
that you were entirely ignoi-ant of the Catholic religion, as well
as of all others. For this also we have your own testimony, in the
following words :
" Some book or tract, now forgotten, gave rise to some inquiries
as to the Mass. I asked. What does it mean ? I could not tell,
though for years a regular attendant upon it. Why 'does the priest
dress so ? What book does he read from, when carried now to his
right, and now to his left ? What means those candles burning
at noonday ? Why do I say prayers in Latin, which I understand
not ? Should I not know what I am saying when addressing my
Maker ? Why bow down and strike my breast when the little bell
rings ? What does it all mean ? The darlcness of Egypt rested upon
the questions." — page 3?.
Never did man forsake one religion and join another, who had
contrived to be' so profoundly ignorant of the forsaken creed as you,
Nicholas Murray, prove yourself to have beeti, in regard to Catho-
licity, when you renounced it and became an infidel. Whatever
you know of it now, true or false, you have learned as other
Protestants do, outside of the Church and from her enemies.
It is imputed to our countrymen that they act first, and reflect af-
terward. I am sorry, sir, that your conduct, when you renounced
the creed of your humble, but, I have no doubt, virtuous and re-
spectable parents, goes so far to justify the imputation. It is cer-
tain, on your own testimony, that when you ceased to be a Catho-
lic and became an infidel, the Catholic religion might be true, or
might be false, for all you knew about it. It is equally certain that
when, in 1847, you published a series of smart, if not learned, rea-
sons, for your conduct thirty years ago, you have been again acting
more Hibernico — and sorry I am that during so long a period, with
the advantages of American and Presbyterian training, you have
not yet outgrown the national weakness. But, sir, no genuine
Irishman would attempt to justify his act by reasons which, in the
order of time, occur to his mind thirty years after the act had
been performed — as you may have done. A genuine Irishman
would consent to be laughed at, and would join in the laugh wi,th
right good humor, rather than attempt the trick of reversing the
wheel of time, and assigning the reasons of 1847 as the motives of
his conduct.
The chronology of the events which make up a case is oftentimes
very important. Previous to your conversion you knew nothing
of the Catholic — nothing of the Protestant — religion. The reasons
assigned in your recent letters, may or may not be good rea-
sons, but whether good or bad, they had nothing to do with your
change of religion. You blundered out of the Church and into in-
fidelity, without knowing why or wherefore — and your reasons are
all out of date. They might be styled with great propriety, " vVn
"kiewan" ukmasked. 641
Irishnian's motives for becoming a Protestant, arranged according
to the order imputed to bis countrymen, that of acting first, and re-
Jlecting afterward."
You may blame your priests or your parents, as you please, for the
peculiar absence of religious knowledge which preceded your con-
version. But the fact of your profound ignorance of all religion,
at the period of your change, is the material point, and you have
been candid enough to establish that point beyond all dispute.
You seem to be troubled with a peculiar weakness of memory
— and this is a great misfortune in a Christian man who writes for
the edificationof the public. After what we have just seen of your
mental condition at the period of your apostacy from the Church,
into what an awkward exhibition of yourself does this short mem-
ory betray you at the end of your first letter, where you profess " to
state in a series of letters to my Right Reverence the reasons which
INDUCED you to leave the Roman Catholic Church, and which pre-
vent you from returning to it." — page 11. Now, dear " Kirwan,"
we are told in logic, that, of two propositions which mutually con-
tradict each other, one must be false. If your mind was " a perfect
blank as to all religious instruction," as you assure us it was, (page
30,) how could you have had " reasons that induced you to leave the
Church?" — page 11. Have you forgotten in the one page, wTiat
you had affirmed in the other ? Now, however, that I have called
your recollection to the mistake, pray be serious, and tell the pub-
lic which of these contradictory statements you would have it to be-
lieve. Why, sir, your own great stand-by, " common sense," revolts
at the insult of religious '■ reasons" oflfered from a mind which, as
to religious instruction, is a " perfect blank !"
Some persons may think that you are quizzing the public. I
think not. Your memory appears to have been but poor from your
childhood. And here allow me to pluck up a nettle which you
would have planted on the graves of " your parents and priests."
Thanks to their charitable efforts for your instruction in the Chris-
tian doctrine, you "knew your Catechism by heart, at the age of
nine or ten years, when you were confirmed." — page 31. Now I
would call this a good, almost an extraordinary memory in a child
of ten years. It had taken in and retained the waters of Christian
knowledge which overspread the pages of the entire Catechism
which you knew by heart. This was no trifle. But the first sul^
sequent evidence of its failure is the fact that you have forgotten
to tell us of the sad catastrophe by which it became a cracked and
leaky cistern immediately after confirmation ; so that the " Catechism
itself was forgotten" when you arrived at the jumping-off period of
eighteen years. — Ibid. Pray, might I ask, whether it was this,
your precocious talent of forgetfuliiess which caused you to be
"even talked of as a candidate for Maynooth ?"— page 31.
But, after all, dear sir, this memory of yours puzzles me amazingly.
I turn to page 98, where, having given me up, you address the
Irish Catholic Laity in such tones of winning tenderness, that,
41
642 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Blarney Castle never tipped the human tongue with sweeter. "Your
present feelings, as to your Church, I have had, and in all their
force. I can entirely appreciate them. I have cordially hated
Protestantism and Protestants ; and I have seen the time when I
regarded the man as a personal enemy who would utter a word
against ray religion. But those were the days of my youth and my
ignorance. When I became a man I put away childish things." —
page 98. Why, this is queer. You had forgotten at eighteen
what the Church had taught you; and you remember at nine-and-
forty your hatred of Protestants, which she never taught you at all!
You remember that when you became a man, you "put away child-
ish things" and "became also an infidel." Yet you forget that you
had told us before, that when you became a man, there were no
" childish things" left to be put away — that they had already sloped
from your memory — ^that at the early age of eighteen you- had
" forgotten them," and that, as to religious instruction, your mind
was a " perfect blank !"
It is not my business to reconcile these flat, palpable contradic-
tions. I have established from your own repeated avowal, your
utter and profound ignorance of the Catholic religion, when you
left the Church and became an infidel. You never came back to
finish, or rather to begin your Catholic education. Like one of the
winged messengers let loose from the hand of the Patriarch, you
found more congenial sustenance abroad, and you returned to the
Ark no more. In all this you may have been sincere, and if you
were, in nothing of ttis do I blame you. But I do blame you for
assuming a character which does not belong to yon.
When a man changes his religion he ought to be serious and sin-
cere. When he does it with that direct reference to his account at
the bar of God's eternal judgment, which leaves no doubt as to the
sincerity of his motive, then, as I have said once before, I regard it
as the grandest and most truly heroic act of which a rational being
is capable on this earth. To assign the motives for such an act is
efually fair and honorable. But, sir, I can conceive nothing more
disgusting to an upright mind, than to discover what is vulgarly,
but very expressively called " humbug" mixed up in the assignment
of such motives. This foul admixture is what I charge upon your
recent letter, and what T blame.
♦ The American public are generous, and credulous also, toward
those who profess to wi'ite for their amusement or instruction. Be-
ing chiefly Protestants, little acquainted with the religion which
you have forsaken and denounced, they would be — they have been
— particularly generous and credulous toward you. As an Irish-
man, it was unworthy of you to take unfair advantage of these
noble sentiments.
It is true, that if they read your pages with a cold, impartial
criticism, they would see enough to put them on their guard. But
your profound ignorance of the Catholic doctrine, when you be-
come au infidel, which you assert and repeat, nsq^ue ad nauseam, they
"KIRWAN" tJXMASKED. 643
■will construe, like yourself, as the reproach of your parents and
priests. On the other hand, your introduction of yourself as one
brought up in the " camp of the enemy," was obviously intended
to deceive them. Here is your bow to the public. " I was baptized
by a priest — I was confirmed by a bishop — I often went to confes-
sion — I have worn my amulets — and I have said my Pater Nostera
and my Hail Marys, more times than I can now enumerate." —
page 10.
Now, this announcement of your competency to treat the subject,
is sufficiently brief, and sufficiently stupid. Barring the " amulets,"
Voltaire could have said the same of himself But ninety-nine out
of every hundred of your American readers would say on perusing
this — "There, thi-re, at length, is a man who knows Popery /row
within, from personal knowledge — a man who, with the modesty of
true genius, merely insinuates the extent of his information, and
thus avoids egotism and the offensive disomy of his gifts."
Such feelings on the part of the American public ought not to be
trifled with by jwu. Of your own knowledge of Popery, as you call
it, you know nothing — and you have avowed it. Then you are no
more competent to speak or write of it, than Dr. BroWnlee was.
What you know of it, true or false, you like him, have learned from
its enemies. But there is a difference. Dr. Brownlee never had the
chance to learn and tkeii forget the Catholic catechism before the
age of eighteen.
Let the public, then, understand that you are to take rank among
those anti-Catholic writers, who draw from such fountains as that
mammoth reservoir — " McGavin's Protestant." Anti-Catholio
retailers like you may take from that source theological lore to any
extent, and deal it out to those who have a relish for it. It would
seem that such persons are still numerous enough to make the
Nineteenth Century ashamed of itself, if it were the age of light
which it professes to be.
In this letter I have proved, on your own testimony, that you
were utterly ignorant of Catholic doctrine when you left the Church
and became an infidel. In ray next I shall have the more pleasing
task of tracing your progress out of infidelity and into Presbyteri-
anism, which was a decided improvement in your spiritual, and
possibly, in your temporal condition. Meanwhile, I feel the same
pity and benevolence toward you as before.
>i< John Hughes, Bishop of New York.
LETTER IIL
To " Kirwan,'^ alias the Bev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., of Elizabethtown.
New Jersey :
Dbak Sik — You tell us that "ignorance is the parent of
papal devotion."— Second series, page 86. How was it, then, tha
644 ARCHBISHOP HTJGHES.
ignorance produced so contrary an effect, upon you? You appear
to have been rather a good boy, when you said your Catechism, at
nine Or ten years of age. But at eighteen, your mind was a " perfect
blank as to all religious instructions." Could ignorance be greater
than this ? How is it, then, that instead of the Catholic saint, which
your rule of " papal devotion" should have led us to expect, we find
you at that period of your life, as you have taken pains to tell us,
" an infidel ?" It seems that from ten to eighteen years, as your
" ignorance" grew more, your " devotion" grew less — proving that,
at least in your case, " ignorance is not the parent of papal devotion,"
but rather of infidelity.
I insist as you perceive, on determining the state of your intellect
at the period of your fall from the faith. Tour subsequent acquire-
ment of knowledge and education, I have no wish to question or
deny. But the public will be naturally interested in ascertaining the
condition of your minj^ at the critical period, for you, when you
rejected the Catholic Cuurch, and embraced infidelity. A life so
important to the philosophical and theological worl^ as yours requires
to be divided into distinct and successive epochs, and to have each
of its period's considered separately from the others, if one would
do justice to the whole.
First, then, we must leave out the Freshy/erian education, which you
have acquired since you became an infidel, at the age of eighteen.
Secondly, we must leave out the education of the Catholic catechism,
Trhich you had forgotten. Thirdly, we must leave out any knowledge
which you might have derived from Catholic devotions, for you tell us
that you said, your prayers "in Latin, which you did not under-
stand."— page 33. Fourthly, we must leave out all instruction by
hearing, for you tell us " you never heard a sermon preached in a Catho-
lic chapel in Ireland ; nor a word of explanation on a single Christian
topic, or doctrine, or duty." — page 29. Now, according to your own
statement, this was the condition of your mind when you left the
Catholic Church ; and I doubt whether Christendom could furnish
one other instance of such mental nudity — such utter destitution of
all Christian knowledge.
And now, forsooth, toue " Reasons" for leaving the Church !
What reasons ? The existence of reasons in such a mind, on such a
subject, was a metaphysical impossibility. Reasons necessarily
imply comparison ; comparison necessarily supposes knowledge of
the things compared ; but in your case, as we take it from your own
pen, there was no knowledge of the things to be compared, and
therefore there could be no comparison, and therefore no reasons
— that is, no reasons for a mind in the condition of yours, as you
liave described it.
But you had, you say, " Common sense." I doubt it. " Common
sense" is by no means so common as you seem to imagine. If you
take the term to signify the general opinion of the age and country
you lived in at the time, it is evident that your renouncing Catho-
licity, and becoming an infidel, was not, and could not be called, an
"K.IRWAN UNMASKED. 645
exercise of " common sense." If, on the other hand, you mean that
intrinsic faculty of the human mind, by which a man decides
mentally according to the evidences of the case, it is equally clear
in your case, that common sense had no evidence to act upon ; and
although I do not deny its existence in the abstract, yet its agency
could have had nothing t6 do with your real or imaginary conver-
sion. Tell an African beneath the tropics about ice, of what avail
will his " common sense" be to him ia determining the truth or
error of your statement ?
But supposing he admits the existence of ice, will his "common
sense" enable him to determine any of its properties ? Not at all.
His " common sense" is just as likely to decide that ice will burn, as
that it will chill, the hand, or other part of the body to which it
might be applied. Now your case and his case are equal illustra-
tions of " common sense," in the absence of the elements from which
its office is inseparable, namely, knowledge of the things to which it
is applied. For you, religious knowledge, at the period of your
change, consisted of two parts ; — the one Presbyterian or Protestant,
which you had yet to learn; the other Catholic, which you had for-
gotten, or had never known. In the absence of both these divisions
of religious knowledge were you not much in the condition of the
African, decided on the properties of ice, by the standard of " com-
mon sense?"
I think, sir, that you will admit this reasoning to be conclusive.
The premises are your own, the conclusions are logically and fairly
deduced. And if so, then it follows that, at the time of your
pretended conversion, you had not and could not have had any
reasons for your change of religion. And if so, it follows again,
that in assigning those mentioned in your letters as inducing you
to make the change, you have been imposing on the good faith of
your fellow-beings, and exhibiting a want of that regard for truth
which would be so becoming in a minister of religion, and especially
one who professes so high a respect for " common sense," and so
intimate an acquaintance with his " unfettered Bible." Does the
Bible warrant such statements as the following ?
You tell us how the priest used to question you in confession, and
how you used to answer him. — page 20. You complain that he did
" not speak to you in English," but " in Latin."— same page. You
tell us a few minutes after that you " did not understand Latin." —
page 33. Now the' difficulty is, how could you answer
questions in a language which you did not understand? It seems
that when you went to confession something like the wonders of
Pentecost took place between you and the priest. He spoke to you
in an unknown tongue, and you answered him with the utmost ease,
althour/h you did not understand the language in which he addressed you !
There is nothing more miraculous on record than this, if what you
say were true. But it is not true. The priest spoke to you in
English ; you answered him in English. Why then do you " bear
false witness against" the priest, charging him with havmg spoken
646 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
to you " in Latin," which " you did not understand ?" Does Pres-
bytevianism require such services as this at your hands ? In former
times you found " that you could play your pranks better after con- .
fession than before ;" — but after thirty years of reading the Bible,
might not one expect that you would give up " playing your pranks"
altogether ?
We have already seen that when you left the Catholic Church
your mind was, in your own words, a " perfect blank as to all
religious instruction." The reader will be curious to learn when
and how you procured the necessary outfit to cover the mental
nudity in which you forsook us and to appear before the public (as
you have appeared in your recent letters) decked off in the second-
hand raiment of Catholic theology. This is a natural and not
unreasonable cui'iosity ; and considering how much your letters are
in the style of autobiography, I am surprised you did not account
for your Protestant knoioledge as well as your Catholic ignorance. Let
me supply the omission as briefly as possible.
It seems that like other spars of Irish shipwreck you drifted to
these shores at an early age. You had the good or the bad fortune
to be picked up by Presbyterian patrons. You were a stranger and
they took you in. Whether they were gifted or not with that
" second sight" peculiar to the children of the clouds, in North
Britain, it does great credit to their penetration to have discovered
in yon (under all the disadvantages of that ignorance and infidelity to
which you have so often directed our attention) whaXpoetry has called
"A gem of purest ray serene."
Under the influence of this benevolent anticipation, they sent you
to College. As your mind was a " perfect blank," of course you had
nothing to unlearn. There was no Popish rubbish left from the
' ruins of the former edifice. The foundations were unobstructed and
clear, and the new architects had only to proceed with their work
and build you up according to the approved rules of Presbyterian
" constructi-<^eness." They did so build you up accordingly, and
no"\v, you are what you are.
In assigning reasons why you left the Catholic Church and now
cannot return, I am surprised you have omitted all this. To most
Catholics, and indeed to many Protestants, this reason alow would
be quite sufficient to account for it all.
And yet, there is nothing in the poverty which caused you to fall
into such hands, of which it would not be great weakness, on your
part, to be in the least ashamed. If cii'cumstances had not placed
you in a. false position, I think you would feel proud of the poverty
which you inherited from your Irish parents ; for it is the most
incontestable evidence that your Catholic ancestors were " true
men," in their generation. If they had been unprincipled hypocrites,
capable of betraying their conscience and their God, at almost any
period within the last three hundred years, they might have re-
nounced their religion, and pocketed the bribe which the Gospel, as
80 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Vers to the interest of infidel sectarianism, the advantages whici are
denied to Christian sectarianism of every liind. Again, let us not
be misunderstood. "We are opposed to' the admission of sectarian-
ism of any and of every kind, whether Christian or anti-Christian
in the schools that are supported by the State.
But we hold also that, as far as the Commonwealth is concerned
in the character of her future citizens, even the least perfect religion
of Christian sectarianism would be better than no religion at all.
And we hold that of all bad uses to which the public money can be
perverted, among the worst would be the expending of it, in the
shape of a bounty to education, for the spread and propogation of
sectarian infidelity. Far be it from us to suppose that either the
Legislature, Common Council or School Commissioners, ever intend-
ed such perversion. We hold, nevertheless, that the consequence
which we have pointed out and the apprehension of which is one
of the reasons why the Roman Catholics cannot conscientiously par-
ticipate in the beaefits of these schools, is necessary and inevitable.
The education which each denomination might under proper re-
straints and viligance give to its own poor, has passed and become a
monopoly in the hands of "The Public School Society of New
York." That corporation is in high and almost exclusi\e standing
with the Common Council.
Now, the education which is imparted on the principles of the
schools of that society, is, in our decided opinion, calculated from
its defectiveness to disappoint the benevolent hope of legislative
bounty, and to make bad and dangerous citizens. We all know that
the belief of another world is ultimately at the base of all that is
just and sacred in this. The love of God — the hope of future re-
wards— the dread of future punishment — one or all of these consti-
tute and must be the foundation of conscience in the breast of every
man.
When neither of them exists, conscience is but an idle word. Re-
ligion is but the development of these ifuportant truths, governing
man by their internal influence on his passions and affections, regu-
lating the order of his duties, to God, to his country, to his neigh-
bor and, himself. If they have their full force he will be a man of
justice, probity and -truth. And in proportion as such men are nu-
merous in the Commonwealth, in the same proportion will the State
enjoy security and happiness from within — honor and high estima-
■>n from without,
"iw holding these truths as indisputable, we ask you, fellow citi-
-> say whether this, not common, but Public School System,
') now administered, under the interpretation of the Common
;il, is calculated to raise up for your successors, in the State,
xxioii of this description ; or rather, whether it does not promise you
men of a different and diametrically opposite character ? The
Common Council makes it a condition, an essential one of those
schools, that religion shall not "be taught, for this would be sectari-
anism." And thus the intellect is cultivated, if you please, but the
THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 61
heart and moral character are left to their natural depravity and
wiMness. ' This is not education ; and above all, this is not the edu-
cation calculated to make good citizens.
Education cultivates all the faculties of the human soul, the will,
as well as the understanding and memory.
The Public School System not only does not cultivate the will
(for this can hardly be done without the aid of religion), but it al-
most emancipates the will, even in the tender age of childhood, in
reference to the subject of religion itself Wo have found in the
hinds of our children lessons setting forth, in substance, that, after
all, humane feelings and actions are about the best religion.
In these schools, you give them knowledge, without the moderat-
ing principle which will direct its use, or prevent its being applied
to_ the worst of purposes. What principle do you inculcate that
will check the lie that is rising to their lips, or cause confusion on
their brow when they have uttered it ? None. Religion could ac-
comphsh this — but religion is excluded. If you tell them there is a
God who will punish them, the Athiest father who thinks himself
an honest man without God, and who thinks his own opinions good
enough for his child, will appeal to the decision of the Common
Council, and show that you violate the condition of the grant in
faror of common schools, by speaking of God or anything sectarian.
What principles of self resti-aint are inculcated in this spurious
system of education, which leaves the will of the pupil to riot in
the fierceness of unrestrained lusts ? " Train up a clTild in the way
in which he should walk, and when he is old he will not depart from
it," is the maxim of one who judged of human nature with more
than human penetration. But the Common Council has re^•ersed it,
and decided that the child will train up itself, jirovidcd you give it
knowledge without religion.
Thus far, fellow-citizens, we have stated our objections to the
present system of common school education, not as they affect us
more than any other denomination of Christians.
We have stated them in view of the bearing which that system is
likely to have on interests in which you are concerned as much as,
or more, than ourselves, viz. : religion, morals, individual and social
Jiappiness, and the welfare of the State.
We beheve it was the warning voice of the illustrious Washing-
ton, among the last solemn words of the patriot, breathed into. the
ear of his beloved country, to beware of the man who would inculcate
morality without religion.
We now come to the statement of grievances which affect us in
our civil and religious rights, as Roman Catholics.
Under the guarantee of liberty of conscience, we profess the re-
ligion which we believe to be true and pleasing to God.
We inherit it, many of us, from our persecuted fathers, for we are
the sons of martyrs in the cause of religious freedom.
Our conscience obliges us to transmit it to our children.
A brief experience of the Public School System in the city of New
"kiewan" unmasked. 647
" by law established," had set apart as the recompense of apostacy
from the Catholic faith. But they did not. They supposed that
their posterity would be worthy of them; — they supposed that o«e
Esau, selling his birthright for a mess of pottage, was enough in the
history of our race ; they submitted to be plundered of their earthly
goods ; they submitted to be deprived of education ; the cruel edict
of ignorance thus enacted against them, was & Protestant edict ; they
submitted to its penalties ; but, on the other hand, they asserted the
right and superiority of glorious principle over base and mercenary
interest ; they proved that the material tyrant cannot vanquish the
immaterial and immortal mind ; they bore and defied his torture,
while they writhed under it ; they spurned and repelled his offered
bribe of apostacy, whilst to human view it was the only alternative
between them and ignorance, ppverty, starvation and death. But
they welcomed all sooner than betray principle or violate conscience.
O, sir, they were glorious men and true, our Irish Catholic ancestors ;
I am prouder of them, so far as I am concerned, than if at the sacri-
fice of truth, or honor, or principle, they had bequeathed to me the
titles and wealth of the Beresfords, Nor can I believe that you, in
your heart, entertain any other sentiments in their regard. You,
like myself, have borne the penalty of their constancy to truth and
conscience ; and in your pulpit in Elizabethtown, in your most
» fervid and eloquent appeals to your Presbyterian audience, if a
recollection of your heroic and invincible GsxthoMo forefaihers should
perchance, flash across your memory, you will feel proud of them,
and ashamed of yourself. " How came you there ?" If I held you
capable of other sentiments I should be uttering a libel on the Irish
heart in particular, and on human nature in general.
Sir, I think you made a great mistake in publishing your letters
anonymously ; especially when you took the unmanly and unwar-
rantable liberty of blazoning forth my name in connection with them,
whilst you concealed your own. But having done this, you have
made another great mistake in allowing the soft, warm breath of
thoughtless flattery to melt so prematurely the waxen ties of your
mask. Your letters have been compared to those of Junius, but
you have not imitated your model successfully, in the important
affair of keeping your own secret. You have made another mistake
still, in weaving in your own biography, your own personality, as the
woof of your polemical web. Another mistake still you have made
in bringing in your parents to embellish your pages. It would be
wrong^for you, I suppose, in your new light, to pray for the soul,
of your deceased father ; but you might have written a very clever
book against Popery without invading his grave or disturbing his
ashes at all. The same may be said in general of those little
stories with which your first letters are adorned, about "yourself,"
and your " house," and your " hall," and the " dark room up stairs,"
and the " drunken priest" to whom you ministered brandy, etc. etc.
These "awful disclosures" would do very well in the pages of
Maria Monk, Miss Partridge, or some of the other v/stals of their
648 AECIIBISIIOP HUGHES.
class, of whom the Catholic Church is not worthy. Even in the
writings of Monk Leahy, I do not say they would be out pf place.
But in the production of a scholar and a gentleman like you, I
am sorry to see them. They have a kind of mean, " tell-tale" appear-
ance— they are a betrayal of foi-mer friends and associates, which,
to my mind, at least, indicates the absence of manly, generous feel-
ing, as well as of elevated taste. But as you have thought other-
wise, I must review them somewhat at length in my next letter.
Meantime I remain with pity and good wishes as usual.
•i« John Hughes, Bishop of New York.
LETTER IV.
To " Kirwan" alias the Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., of Elizaheih-
town. New Jersey :
Dear Sie — I think it has been clearly proved in my last letter,
and from evidences the more indisputable, as they are furnished by
your own pen, that you had no reason, either intellectual or moral,
for leaving the Catholic Church. The only reason, deduced by in-
ference from what you have written of yourself, will be found in
a thick, dark cloud of ignorance and infidelity, such as, I trust in
God, never en\'eloped the mind of any other Irish Catholic peasant
at the age of eighteen, either since or before.
Yet, sir, I do not believe that your ignorance of the Catholic
religion, when you left it, was so unmitigated as you pretend. It will
be very difficult for you, however, either to retract or explain, in
your real character, what you have published of yourself under the
duplicity of your mask.
I know not what intoxicating influence flattery and self-com-
placency may have produced on a mind and memory like yours.
But I do know that whoever writes under a mask, and in a char-
acter even partially feigned, and especially if he writes on any grave
subject, in which mankind take a deep interest, does so at the im-
minent peril of his own reputation. He is nearly certain to be
found out. And when this happens, his attempts to reconcile the
discrepancies between his Assumed and' his real character are sure to
produce, in the public mind, a feeling of ridicule not unmingled
with a feeling of contempt.
In the introductory note prefixed to your letters I learn that they
were furnished to Samuel I. Prime, "under the injunction oi secrecy
as to the author's name." If you lived in Spain or Sicily, there
might be some reason for this unnecessary precaution. But if your
purpose was to tell "the truth," even "the whole truth," and
"nothing but the truth," in your testimony for Presbyterianism or
against Catholicity, what motive could you have had in this free
country for this studious concealment of your name? Here the
"kirwan" unmasked. 649
press IS free, and writing against Popery is even at a premium.
Why then, as an honest man, conceal your name ? This looks badly
Sir. Prime, indeed, loaned you his endorsement, whatever that maj
be wprth. He introduceb yon to the public, vouching for your
verocili/ in these words : " . . . . It is proper to say that the
writer's character is an abundant guarantee for the fidelity of all
matters of fact here stated, and that he is prepared to maintain
them, if they should be called in question." Now, sir, there are
some things you state as matters of fact, which I beg leave most
emphatically to call in question. I hope you may be able to main-
tain them, or if not, I hope Mr. Prime will be willing to forfeit his
recognizances. . «
I. You state, as a matter of fact, that nearly at the age of man-
hood, " ore as full an examination of the subject as you could give it,
you came to the conclusion that you could not remain a Roman Catholic."
■ — page 12. Now, sir, I refer to your own testimonj', quoted in my
last letter, as a proof that your mind " was a perfect blank as to all '
religious instruction," and I insist that therefore you did llbt give
the Catholic religion as full an examination as you could, for you
could, at least, have revived in yourself the knowledge of "the
Catechism" which "you had forgotten."
II. You state, as a matter of fact, that " in one of the large in-
terior towns of Ireland, .... you resided in a house, and over the
store in which you were then a clerk." — page 13. You then proceed
to tell us about a drunken priest. Father B., whom you helped out
of the gutter, and wind up the whole narrative with the remark,
"and a young man as I was." This phrase, in ordinary language,
would refer to a period as far back as memory goes — a period in
which reason was but in the dawn of its development — say eight,
nine, or ten years of age ; but at that period, if we can believe you,
you were already a " clerk in a store !" Pray, dear '• Kirwan," what
kind of a clerk were you ? " Young as you were," by your own ac-
count, you were able "to shut the store windows at night;" you were
able " to help a man out of the gutter ;" you were able to "clean off his
Reverence ;" you were able to " give him his brandy next morning,"
and yet you were just in the period of dawning reason and earliest
memory, in which you tell us that " young as you were," all this
made an impression on you. The circumstantial part of the story
is still more wonderful than the leading facts. For instance, you
could not see the man in the gutter, and you were " attracted to-
ward him by a singular noise." Pray what kind of a noise is a
singular noise ? And then, the night was so dark that had it not
been for the singular noise he might have perished. But on the
other hand, it was light enough to recognize "Father B.,the miracle
worker." And instead of helping the poor man, as a decent " clerk
in the store" should have done, you ran in, blabbling to the lady of
the house that Father B., was drunk in the street. And the " lady
of the house" gave the " clerk in the store" "a stunning slap on the
side of the face," and " the clerk in the store" " staggered undei;
650 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
the blow, and then turned round in tlie best nature in the woi'ld to
assist in cleaning off his Reverence." Next morning you " gave
him his brandy," and " young as the clerk in the store was, all this
made an impression upon him." Sir, if the dullest lawyer in the coun-
try had you under cross-examination on this subject, he could not fail
to convulse the gravity of the bench with irrepressible laughter.
Observe, I do not raise any question as to whether the priest
Avas drunk or not ; I let that pass. I have myself seen among the
convicts of the penitentiary, individuals pointed out as having once
been respectable Presbyterian ministers, and who were there for
crimes even more heinous than drunkenness. But no man of right
feelings would pretend to'jiistify an opposite religion, or to con-
demn theirs on account of their crimes and misfortunes. I beg
leave, then, to call in question the facts which you statj in your cir-
cumsiantial evidence in this case. And I direct your attention par-
ticularly to the contradiction implied by the fact that you were a
child at the same time that you were " a clerk in the store."
III. 'You state as' a fact that, on your father's demise, your rnother
paid the priest money enough to have his soul prayed for by name,
on every Sunday for two or three years. That, when the money
was expended, his name was given out no more. That, when she
inquired the cause of this, the priest told her,' that " your father's
soul was still in Pvrgatory, but thai she had forgotten to send in the
yearly tax at the time it was due." — page 14. You add, that with
this fact in particular, you are entirely conversant.
Now, sir, I question this " fact." I deny this " fact." I pro-
nounce it to be a fabrication, and not a fact. And if the courtesy of
language authorized it, I sliould feel bound to designate it by a still
harsher word. No priest would ever dare to decide when, or whether
any soul was released from Purgatory. No Irish mother, or
wife, or widow, would ever speak to a priest in the manner
in which you describe your mother as having spoken to him.
It is true, she had not, like her son, the benefit of a Presbyterian
education. She bore the penalty of her ancestors, and her creed.
But she knew the principles of the Catholic faith better than you
do ; and your superior general information does not authorize you to
envelop her in this gross imputation of ignorance as to her faith.
I am willing to go to any reasonable expense to prove this a fabrication,
if either you or Mr. Prirne have the courage to meet me, in a formal
investigation. *
IV. You state that " Father M., held frequently his confessions
at your house." " Thai he sat in a dark room vp stairs with one or
more candles on a, table before him." That " those going to confession
followed each other on their knees from the front door, through the hall,
up the stairs, and to the door of the room." — page 19.
Now, sir, your house is likely to become as well known as Shak-
speare's. A relative of yours has taken the pains to describe it, in
a late number of the Freemaji's Journal. According to him, it would
be a building in the primitive style of Irish architecture. The same,
"KIEWAN" UNMA.SKED. 651
very likely, which prevailed when the round towers were constructed.
Up stairs would be up a ladder to what is called a loft. And if
Father M. heard confessions there, I can see the great propriety of
one or more candles on the table. For according to the primitive
architecture of Ireland, light was received into the dwellings,
either horizontally, by the door, or vertically by the chimney. The
former was made for the purpose of ingress and egress, and the lat-
ter for the double purpose of always letting the smoke out, and
sometimes letting the day in. If then. Father M. had heard con-
fessions in such a place, without one or more candles on the table,
what a beautiful theme this circumstance would have afforded to a
morbid imagination like yours.
Sir, I feel somewhat humbled at being obliged, as a reviewer, to
notice this, as well as other portions of your " Kirwan's" letters,
which, in my opinion, propriety should have induced you to leave un-
der the protection of domestic privacy. If you were still a Catholic,
like your pious, albeit uneducated, mother, you would feel rather
proud than otherwise of what appears to be the fact as regards the
humility of your ancestral " halls." Poverty is not regarded, by
those with whom you now associate, as respectablp. And yet it
has been ennobled by the example of Our Redeemer and His
Apostles. It is still ennobled, in the estimation of the Catholic
Church, when it is selected by voluntary choice, and is never dis-
honorable, except when it is immediately connected with, or result-
ing from moral guilt.
Our glorious Catholic ancestors were driven back into the cabins
of Irish primitive life ; and Protestantism, in anticipation of the good
things of heaven, made sure also of the good things of the earth. The
churches, the glebe lands, the monasteries, the castles and domains
of our Catholic forefathers, became the usui-ped inheritance of
Protestantism, by right of legal spoliation, from the period when
the Reformation took the interpretation of the Bible into its own
hand — aided of course by acts of Parliament.
When, therefore, you describe the Catholic " Priests" " moving
about as spectres, as if afraid of the light of day," you trace a pic-
ture which seems to call up to my imagination the lives of the
Apostles, and of their Divine Master, going about meekly and un-
obtrusively in the discharge of their heavenly mission ; whilst the
contrast suggested by the antithesis as in favor of the Presbyterian
ministry, would suggest to my mind the idea of an inflated clerical
pedant that makes the avenues of life narrow wherever he passes
in bustling and gassy rotundity. But I merely hope that you,
iudged by your own pen, are not a fair specimen of the class to
which you now belong. At all events, I " call in question" the de-
scription of " our house," and hope that you and Mr. Prime will
maintain it.
V. You state as a fact, that " on your first remembered journey to
Dublin, you passed by a place called, if you mistake not, St. John's
Well." You tell me that I know it is one of the holy wells. I
C52 AECHBISIIOP nUGHES.
aiiswer that I know nothing about it. But you appear all at cnca
singularly scrupulous, and I look upon the phrase, " If I mistake
not," as equivalent to the phrase, " Young as I was," when you
were already a " clerk in the store." I cannot dwell on your evi-
dence respecting what was " called, if you mistake not, St. John's
"Well; but I have no hesitation in saying that the story is, either in
whole or in part, a fabrication. It is found on page 21 on your first
series, and I call ,your attention to it, in the hope that you and Mr.
Prime shall maintain what you have there stated as facts.
VI. The story about the sun " dancing" in the heavens and in
the chapels on Easter Sunday morning, and the attempt to produce
a delusive corresponding phenomenon in the chapel by " an in-
dividual managing concealed mirrors, so as to produce the wonder-
ful efiect," (page 27,) I pronounce to be equally a fabrication, or a
mere playful supposition, uttered for the amusement of children. I
hope that you and your endorser will see to this matter also.
VII. Again : you tell us as a fact, that you " saw good papists
eating eggs and fish and getting drunk on these days (Fridays and
Saturdays). But that this was no violation of the laws of the
Church." — page 32., This, sir, as far as regards what you call
" good papists" and "getting drunk," and yet not violating the laws
of the Church, is a fabrication.
This same page records the turning point of your life, the crisis of
your conversion. You came to the conclusion that as regards the
eating of meat on one day, and not on another, God could not make
it a sin by distinction of days — so that if a man can plow on
Thursday, by your rule, God cannot make it a sin for him to do so
on Sunday. And here, in point of fact, is the first, and perhaps the
best, reason which your letters fnrnish for your conversion. It
seems that after mature deliberation, you found that to forbid a
man's eating meat on Friday is an unreasonable regulation, and you
rejected it. It would appear by inference that as regards meat, on
such days, what your conscience approved your appetite appropri-
ated ; and with singular naivete, you tell us that ^^ as far as you now
remember this was your first step toward light arid freedom." — page 32.
By-the-by, this calls up a period in the calamities of Ireland which
had almost passed into oblivion ; and which' corresponds more or
less with that of your conversion from Popery.
About twenty-five or thirty years ago, Lord Farnham, and other
gentlemen, of the evangelical nobility, introduced into Ireland a
religious movement called " the second Reformation." It was a sea-
son of distress among the peasantry, such as succeeds, year by year,
in the history of our unfortunate native country. Lord Farnham
had almost obtained a patent from the legislature for the efficiency,
and admirable simplicity of the new contrivance for converting the
Irish. It was this. The kitchens were turned into scriptural read-
ing-rooms for the starving population of the neighborhood, once a
week. The day selected happened to bo Friday, in almost all
cases. After Bible-reading, soup was given out instead of syllo-
"kikwan" unmasked. 653
gisms, and the " second Reformation" went on admirably until the
potatoes of harvest became mature enough for the people's use.
Lord Farnham and his colleagues supposed that if the landed 'pro-
prietors and gentnj could only succeed in establinhing an amicable under-
standing between the conscience smA the stomach of the "lower orders,"
Ireland ■would soon become a Protestant country. But I need not
dwell upon it, as you are old enough to remember how it was ridi-
culed by Cobbett and other writers wherever the English language
was spoken.
_ Now I do not say that you are a child of the " second Reforma-
tion," but the fact of your having made the first step toward light
and freedom through the medium of something like a Friday-beef-
steak, looks very much like it.
See, Rev. Nicholas Murray of Elizabethtown, into what a posi-
tion your " playing pranks" behind " Kirwan's" mask has betrayed
you ! !
Besides the bow which Mr. Prime has volunteered you, you have
made one for yourself— still under the mask, however. You tell us
that, even before " you took up your pen you were not unknown to
the men of our age, not unsolicited." ... " The men erf our
age" (! ! !) — or of any age, are vei:y few, and posterity has reserved
to itself, almost absolutely, the right of determining who they are.
To save your modesty, therefore, I am obliged to suppose that the
printer has made a mistake here, and that if one could ha\e the
benefit of a peep at your manuscript, it would be found that you
had written, " the men of our (vill)-age."
Ah, sir, it seems that your misfortune through life has been to
have been under the influence of bad advisers — since you tell us
you were " solicited" to write against Popery. The circumstance
reminds me of an anecdote which I have lately read in a London
paper, and which I trust will not offend you, as it has already been
employed in a description of England's highest Protestant nobility.
It seems a drover found it difficult to keep his cattle together in the
crowded approaches to the English metropohs. And in his ex-
tremity he called out to his neighbor, " I wish you would loan me
a bark of your dog." You know, sir, that broad ridicule is the forte
of the English as compared to the French, and a Cockney wit tells
us that Lord John Russell has turned the drover's hint into the
philosophy of politics, and that whenever his herd betray a ten-
dency to straggle from the whig path, he " borrows a bark" from
Sir Robert Peel. However this may be, I am satisfied that " the
men of our age," if there be any such, would nev6r have borrowed a
bark of you.
This letter is already too long, and I must bring it to a closq.
But in doing so, I cannot forget how often you have told us that
you were once an infidel. There are evidences scattered up and
down through your letters, which, to an unprejudiced and impartial
reader would make it appear doubtful whether you are still so.
Some of these I shall present in my next. I shall not venture to
654 AKCIIBISHOP nUGHES.
pronounce an opinion on the subject, as the Almighty alone can
penetrate the hearts of men.
In the mean time, however, I remain, with increasing pity, but
with undiminished good will,
^ John Hughes, Bishop of Ifew York. '
LETTER V
To " Kirwan" alias the Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., of Mizabetk-
town. New Jersey :
Dear Sir — It is deeply to be regretted that the serpent of infi-
delity was ever permitted to nestle in your bosom ; — for when I con-
sider that you reduce the standard of revelation to the test of com-
mon sense — when I consider the looseness of your moral principles,
so far forth as they are exhibited by your own pen — when I behold
the spirit of Voltaire and Thomas Paine in the profanity and ribal-
dry with which you treat every sacred subject which your common
sense does not approve, I am compelled to say that even on the
supposition that infidelity had been expelled from your breast be-
fore the writing of your letters, still,
" The trail of the serpent is over them all."
Your moral principles, as set forth by yourself, even in my regard,
are much more in keeping with what might be expected from a
skeptic of the world, than from a clergyman of any Christian de-
nomination. You have the grossness to impute to me that I am
consciously a deciver of my fellow-creatures, and yet you do not
hesitate to express respect for my character. Is this a principle of
Presbyterian inculcation ? Or has it shot up through the Confes-
sion of Faith from the older and deeper root of your early infi-
delity?
Again, you urge me to renounce the Catholic religion, in which,
you suppose, I do not believe ; and yet, with that loose morality
which would better become a professed infidel, you implicitly en-
courage me to persevere in carrying on the supposed villany of de-
ception ! The reader would hardly believe this statement {)ossible,
so I shall quote your own words to prove it. You say : " And since
in the maturity of my judgment I have examined this matter, I have
greatly commended yovr wisdom in witholding the Bible from the
people. If I were a Bishop or a Priest of your Church I would do the
same.'''' — page 29. So then, dear " Kirwan," you have the candor to
avow on principle, and in the " maturity of your judgment," that if
your lot had been cast among villians, you would be as great a villain
as any of them. Is this avowal worthy of even an infidel ?
That you shoi^ld be where and what you now are, is easily ac-
counted for — by the ignorance of your youth which you have de-
655
senbed, and the po\-erty which you have not described. Ignorance
and poverty are mysterious dispensations of God's providence.
And, on that account, I would treat with indulgence whatever
errors in rjonr early life are to be ascribed to either. But for the
deliberate conclusions, uttered in your recent letters, and in the
" maturity of your judgment," in which you avow yourself ready
to act an evil part with Bishops and Priests, on the mere condition
of your having been one of them, I cannot but hold you immorally
responsible.
Thank God, however, you are neither a Bishop nor a Priest ; and
your once having been talked of as a candidate for Maynooth, was,
happily for the Church, only " talk" after all. You are a Presby-
terian minister in Elizabethtown, where your ministry can do no
harm ; for, if your creed be true, those who are foreordained to
eternal life, will be saved with, as well as without, your pastoral of-
fices.
In ray last letter I showed, according to your own account, that
the prohibition to eat flesh-meat on Fridays and Saturdays was the
first practical reason for your change of religion. It was an " un-
reasonable regulation, and you rejected it; and as far as you now
remember this was your first step toward light and freedom." —
page 32. On the very next page we find you soliloquizing in a
style of infidel rationalism, which Pagan Greece, or Protestant
Germany, could hardly have surpassed. " I thus reasoned with my-
self; God is a spiritual and intelligent Being, and he requires an
intelligent worship. What worship I render Him in the Mass I
know not," (of course, since you had forgotten your Catecliisni,)
" my intelligent worship only is acceptable to Him, and is beneficial
to me. I am a rational being, and I degrade my nature, and insult
my Maker, in offering to Him a worship in which neither my rea-
son, nor His intelligence, is consulted." — page 33. Now, dear " Kir-
wan," when we consider the state of your mind at the period when
this pretended soliloquy occurred, *' a perfect blank as to .all re-
ligious instruction," it becomes a grave question, which I leave to
the decision of casuists in mental philosophy, whether or not, in the
higher ordinary sense of the term, you could rightfully call yourself
a ■' rational being."
But I make the quotation for another purpose. The whole pas-
sage betrays a strong affinity to the spirit of Paine's " Age of
lieason." The high contracting parties were God on the one side,
and II our self on the other. Both were intelligent beings — your Maker
would be insulted, and your nature would be degraded, if you held
the intercourse of worship with Him, except on the principle of recip-
rocal intelligence. You had just tasted of the forbidden food on
the preceding page, and acquired the knowledge of "good and evil."
You had partaken of Egypt's /e.s7i/>o/.s, and the manna had become
insipid and distasteful. For your mind, there was no " intelligence"
in it, and so, very naturally, you gave up — the Mass.
But now. the floodgates of the knowledge of good and evil being
656 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES.
once opened, we may expect the mysteries of revelation to be inuu ■
dated by the deluge of your " intelligence," your " reason," youj
"common sense." Accordingly, the adorable mystery of the Chris-
tian Eucharist, in treating of which the Fathers of the Church were
struck with holy dread and religious awe, is described by you &s an
" absurdity." — page 35. So it has always appeared to the ofiimol
man.
I need scarcely inform you, sir, that the infidels of all ages would
have been quite satisfied, if they had been allowed to construe the
Bible according to what they call common sense. In reference to
this standard, they and you appear to be perfectly agreed. Thus,
you make the Bible and common sense the ultimate tribunals in the
decision of religious belief. Thus, in the exercise of common sense,
you no doubt deny the Divinity of Christ implicitly, at least, since
you call it " blasphemous" to designate the ever glorious and
Blessed Virgin Mary, " as the Mother of God." If the Person of
'^Jhrist was simply Divine, and Mary was truly his mother, she is,
and has been always called. Mother of God, as well as mother of
man ; and your denial of this can be logically sustained, only by
your denial of the Savioitr^s Divinity. In fact, I suppose your " com-
mon sense" has already pronounced against the mystery of the In-
carnation. Thus also, you take sides with the infidels of tlie Re-
deemer's age, as well as of our own, and you tell us, in spite of
the evidence furnished by Him in His human character, and assert
that God only can forgive sins. — page 67. In the spirit of a true in-
fidel, you describe the priesthood of the Catholic Church, through-
out the world, and for eighteen centuries, as having been actuated
solely by the love of money. — page 70. Again still, in the spirit of
the infidel, you sneer at the history of religion as counter to your
appeal to " common sense," and tell us, that " with you the author-
ity of our popes and councils are not worth a penny." — page 70.
The angel Gabriel saluted the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Scrip-
ture records, " Hail, full of gi^ce ;" but you, the Presbyterian min-
ister of Elizabethtown, speak of her as you would of a female sel-
ling candies at the corners of the street, from whom you had just
bought a supply for the young "Kirwans," and call her the "good
woman" condescendingly. — page 74. The Holy Eucharist under your
" common sense," you declare to be so " absurd as to defeat itself."
— page 75. Yon decide that the words, " This is my body," mean,
this is not my body, and with that swelling vanity peculiar to an
evangelical minister who takes " common sense" as his rule for in-
terpreting Holy Scripture, yet exhibit your sleight of hand with a
puff of selfi'complacency, and call upon us to admire — "just see
how a little common sense simplifies every thing." — page 76.
Lest I should interpose by venturing to suggest that a thing
ought to be received for what our Saviour says it is, you warn me
off, and tell me in true, arrogant style, that " you will have none of
my nonsense about the substance contained under the species. —
page 76. Now, dear "Kirwan," I have scriptural authority for
"kiewan" unmasked. 657
what you here call nonsense. The Holy Ghost descended on the
Apostles under the species of' " tongues of fire :" He descended on
the Saviour under the species, of " a dove," and you have decided
that the distinction of the Evangelists between the species and the
substance is " nonsense ; ... it is ' darkening counsel by words
without knowledge.'" — ^page Y6. I recommend your case to the
General Assembly. In fact, you have become so enlightened in
matters of dogmatic theology, under the inspiration of " common
sense," that you are almost tit for a residence in Boston, where the
Reverend Theodore Parker will no doubt have the charity to ex-
tend to you the right hand of Christian fellowship.
In reference to the Holy Eucharist, yourintidel principle of "com-
mon sense" as interpreter of Scripture, prompts you to say that
" nothing equals it in absurdity in all Paganism." — page 76. Pray,
did it ever come in the way of your extensive reading -to have seen a
book called the " Pkesbtterian Contessions op Faith, as amended
and ratified by the General Assembly at their sessions in 1821, and
printed by Tower and Hogan in 1827 ?" If so, turn to pages 73
and 74, and you will find it ruled that in certain cases men are
placed by their Creator in such a situation, that if they do a thing
they " commit a sin against God," and if they do not do it, they " com-
mit a greater sin /" Here is a Presbyterian doctrine to which you might
apply your " common sense" with some advantage to your own
brethren. The rich theme of ridicule which it would furnish for a
pen of such profanity as yours, will be obvious to you at a glance.
You tell us that "the manner of our public worship is heathen,
and was originally adopted for the seducing of the Heathen to
Christianity." — page 82. This idea would seem to have been de-
rived by you rather from Gibbon, than from Voltaire or Thomas
Paine. You have the candor, however, to admit the high antiquity
of our manner of worship, when you describe the use to which it
was applied in the primitive Church. The conversion of nations has
been itself regarded as a proof of the Divipe origin of Christianity.
You, however, have discovered that it was owing to a system of ««-
duction, caxYieA. on through our Catholic "manner of worship," by
which the poor Heathen were " seduced " into the new Religion 1
Could any but an infidel give utterance to such a sentiment ?
But detail is unnecessary. The high mysteries of the Christian
faith you reduce to the standard of " common sense," on almost
every page. Thus : " Extreme unction," you have already pronounced
" extreme nonsense." — page 82.
" How simple and ' common sense ' is alt this." — S. S. page 27.
" Blessed be God, you have not turned your keys on the ' common
sense ' of the world."— page 29. Of your infidel ribaldry I will give
but one specimen, which I think can hardly be surpassed in the an-
nals of sneering skepticism. " Your daily changing of a wafer into
the real body of Christ, and then eating him, beats any thing St.
Fechin ever did. Your preparing an old sinner for heaven by rub-
bing him with olive oil, and then opening its gates to him by the
42
658 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
keys which are only in your possession, far surpasses Fechin's turn-
ing acorns to pork. We believe the swine themselves are constantly
doing this in our Western woods." — page 39. You tell us that the
respect entertained by Catholics for relics has the true relic for its
object — and that, on Catholic principles, " it is all the same " that the
object of reverence or respect should be the head of "St. Paul" or
the head of " Balaam's Ass ;" and you add in your own name, and
with a sneer becoming an infidel, '•'■ arid I suppose the difference, sir,
is very little.'''' — page 70. So then. Rev. Nicholas Murray, you re-
gard the head of an ass and that of an apostle with equal respect;
for the reason, no doubt, that in your estimation, both are figura-
tively of the same species, or perhaps that in this instance both are
scriptural subjects.
' It seems the Tract Societies and Sunday Schools have adopted
your letters, and given them.a very extensive circulation. I do not
know a shorter method of turning the young who may be subject to
their training into infidels, than by placing such a book in their
hands. Each of their pupils has as good a right to explain the
Bible according to what he will call " common sense," as you have
had. But they will not be restrained in their blasphemous ribaldry
by the limits which a black coat and a white cravat have prescribed
for your pen.
They will apply the arguments of " common sense " which you
have wielded against Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, to the ante-
cedent doctrines of original sin, and the Atonement, and they will
find no " common sense " in either. But why should I moralize
for you on such a subject, when I have no evidence to prove that
such a result has not been the very object of your letters ; and that
your zeal against Popery is not merely the gilding of the infidel pill
which you would wish to see swallowed by tract distributors, Sun-
day school teachers, Sunday school children, and all.
Sir, the language and sentiment which I have had to pass under
re\iew in this letter are so unworthy of a man professing Christi-
anity, that I must withhold, at its close, even the expression of my
pity for you, whilst I cherish toward you, as usual, good wishes and
good will. >J< John Hughes, Bishop of New York.
LETTER VI.
To " Jiirwan,'" alias the Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., of EUzahethtown,
New Jersey :
Dear Sie — ^The task which I imposed on myself at the commence-
ment of these letters is nearly accomplished. I wished to investigate
the alleged reasons which induced you to forsake the Church — and
which forbid your return. The result is before the pubKc, and may
be briefly summed up.
You will observe that I have not pretended to defe nd a single
" KIRWAN " UXMASKED. 659
Catholic doctrine from your coarse and profane invective — that 1
have not raised the question with you as to vphether those doctrines
are true or false : that I have confined myself to watching narrowly
the state of your mind, your motives and movements, as described
by yourself, until I saw you clearly beyond the bounds of the
Catholic Church and landed hi the cold, dark regions of infidelity.
If your own statements as to the utter ignorance of your mind in
regard to any and all religion when you became an infidel, are to be
relied on, it follows that in assigning the reasons for your change,
as set forth in your letters, you have been attempting a gross im-
position on the credulity of your Protestant readers. You give a
double certificate of the process of your conversion. One side
attests considerable religious information : the other certifies bluntly
that '■'•your mind was a perfect blank as to all religious instructions."
Both are from your own pen. It remains for you to reconcile the
contradiction as well as you can.
Allow me, in the mean time, to suggest the only plausible, natural
and satisfactory reason for the important event in regard to which
you have taken such superfluous pains to enlighten the public.
It is understood that you arrived in this country a poor Irish
orphan boy. This was not youj- fault. It might have been your
merit. Whether you were then an infidel or a Catholic is best
known to yourself. At all events you attracted the charitable
notice of certain Presbyterian patrons. In the intentions of their
benevolence toward you, your renunciation of Popery was a con-
dition either already accomplished or necessarily implied as a sine
qua non of your education. Now, what could be more natural,
under these circumstances, than that you should become a Protes-
tant, after the fashion of training provided, and the creed professed
by your patrons ? If in all this your conscience approved of what
your friends recommended, so much the better for you. I only
mention the circumstances to supply a hiatus in your narrative.
They are quite sufiicient to explain your conversion, and the public
would not be so unreasonable, had you made them acquainted with
all this, as to ask for any other. It is now nearly thirty years since
these things took place. You, begin to be well stricken in years—
you are approaching the confines of old age ; and the same indulgent
public would have dispensed with your reasons for not return-
ing now to the Communion which you thus forsook in your
boyhood. It is admitted on all hands that, in cases like yours, a
wife and children are substantial objections to such a step. When
the husband and father is, moreover, a Protestant clergyman, it
requires an extraordinary grace to overcome them.
I now leave it to yourself to say, whether it wtis not unwise on
your part, after having appeared with your natural countenance so
lono-, to put on the mash in the fiftieth year of your age ? Whether
it was worthy of your rank and station among the men of our age,
to weave a narrative of your conversion with materials derived from
imaginatio>v, while the plain history of the case lay open before your
060 ARCnBISIIOP HUGHES.
consciousness and memory? Tet when I regai'd the profane spirit
of yoar letters; when I consider that you imitate closely infidel
tactics against Cliristianity in your mode of assault — that you ridicule
■where you cannot reason — that where you pretend to reason it is
not against the Catholic doctrine, as Catholics hold it, but against such
doctrine misrepresented, turned into burlesque, and thus fitted for
your purpose — when 1 reflect on all this, I am not surprised that
you constructed your laboratory in the " camera obscura," and
shunned the open day — that you insulted the memory of a fallen
but not otherwise dishonorable priest, by affixing his name to your
letters rather than your own.
You wish me to dispute with you on matters of general con-
troversy. I must beg leave to decline the proposed honor. I can-
not consent to dispute with any man for whom I feel no respect,
and therefore I can enter into no controversy with you ; especially
until you have extricated yourself from the inconsistencies and self-
contradictions pointed out in this review. You suggest " the inference
that I am a devil." — p. 64. You proclaim " your high respect for
me." — p. 75. Now, sir, I entertain no respect for any man, and
especially a Minister of the Gospel, who can cherish and avow "his
high respect" for ^' a devil," even by inference.
You wrote your letters in the midst of the awful famine which
strewed the highways and ditches of your unhappy country with
dead bodies, last' year. Among them may have been some of those
for whom, Mr. Prime says, you wrote your letters, viz.: "your
kinsmen, according to the flesh." Now, it was not uncommon for
persons, whose Irish hearts had not become withered by hostile
seasoning, to become insane, during that awful crisis — turned into
maniacs by the news of an hour. Sectarianism was forgotten —
humanity was stirred to its depths in the bosom of the entire Amer-
ican people— Jews, Christians, Catholics, Protestants, Presbyterians,
believers and unbelievers of every name, were vying with each
other in their eflTorts to send bread to the dying. And they did
send bread ; they constructed an historical monument of charity,
glorious as the land which reared it, and sufficient to atone, in some
measure, for the bigotries of a thousand years. It was in the midst
of this death-struggle of your native land, that you had the impiety
to invent, and the inhumanity to apply, the following profane and
horrible pun on the words of our Saviour : " He that eats this bread
will never hunger. All that you (Catholics) have to do, if your
principle be true, is to give your wafer to the poor famishing Irish, and
they hunger no ?«ore."— page 11. How well this sustains Mr. Prime's
statement that in writing your Kirwan's letters, you were actuated
by a " sense of duty to your kinsmen, according to the flesh,, your
countrymen and brethren 1"
, But supposing I were to enter into controversy with you on
general topics, it is manifest that besides being a pa'ty, you claim to
be a witness, an advocate, and what is more, & judge, in your own cause !
You profess to teach me what the Catholic religion is, although you
'KIBWAN ' UNMASKED. 661
had ''forgotten yonr Catechism at eighteen years of age," and I
take It for granted you have never looked into it since, except
in the same spirit and for the same purposes which induce the infidel
to, read the Scriptures. If I pretend to know any thing of my
religion, you politely tell me that "yon will have none of my. non-
sense." Why, then, do yoa ask me to enter into controversy with
you ? Besides, who would be the judge ? " Common sense," yon
reply. But whone common sense, yours or mine ? If you submit to
mine, I condemn your position at once. If you will not submit to
mine, what right have you to suppose that I should submit to yours ?
To what tribunal do you appeal? That of history? But its
authority with you is not worth a penny ! To the Bible ? But the
Bible by itself will give no decision. It requires an interpreter, as
much as the Constitution and la"vfs of the country. Who shall be
the interpreter ? Methinks I Jiear you speaking of your " common
sense" again for that office- — so that we come round the Protestant
circle to the starting point.
If yon say the appeal is to the " common sense" of mankind in
general, (restricting the term to those who profess Christianity,) the
verdict will not be unanimous ; but it will be in my favor by a
mjaority of three to one. To what tribunal, then, would you be
willing to submit, in case I were disposed to join issue with you in a
controversy on the great questions on which Catholics and Protes-
tants are divided ? But the inquiry is purely hypothetical ; for
although 1 reserve to myself the right of reviewing your labors,
when I think proper, depend upon it there will not, there can not be,
any dogmatical controversy between us. If your geniusand inclina-
tion lie in the direction of profanity, you can continue to insult the
mysteries of the Catholic faith as you have done. For this you
have but to copy from Protestant writers of yoUr own class, who
have gone before you. But I see no reasons why I should under-
•take to discuss the reprint of their opinions, found, in your book,
rather than in the original text as found in their own. As far as
either come in the way of my subject, I shall do this at my own
convenience, in the sequel of those letters which I have addressed to
my "Dear Reader," and iwt to you. In the present review I
purposed only to consider those little incidents of waning faith,
accumulated misgivings, and autobiography which preceded, or
were connected with your transition from the Catholic faith to a
Protestant denomination. This portion of your letters was your
own, and was (what cannot be always said of works of imagination)
perfectly original. Having done this, it only remains for me to
assure you of my sincere good wishes, and to say, for the present,
Farewell.
And now I Will take the liberty of addressing a few words to the
general reader in connection with this subject. What advantage
does religion, of any name, derive from such books as " Kirwan^s"
letters ? Do they promote piety ? Is charity increased by them ?
362 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
Do they convert Catholics ? Is the faith of Protestants so weak
that it requires the support of such buttresses ? The questions on
which Catholics and Protestants are so unhappily divided have been
discussed by able men on both sides, until the argument has been
exhausted. These are considerations which address themselves to
sincere minds of all parties. Those who «ill reflect a moment will
perceive that the Catholic religion has withstood and now withstands
such attacks, just as the pyramid does the assaults of the wandering
lArab. If it were the system which such writers as " Kirwan" repre-
sents, it could not subsist a single year. Good men from within,
who know what it really is, would not stay ; good men from with-
out would not come to :t. ISTow a whole volume might be filled
with the names of illustrious converts from the different denomina-
tions of Protestantism, who, after mature deliberation, have joined
the Church within the last quarter of a century, many of them at
the sacrifice of their worldly interests and prospects. How could
this have come to pass if Catholicity were what these writers
allege ?
Does not this single fact outweigh a ton of such theory-books as
the Key of Popery, or " Kirwan's " Letters ? "What are' these books
generally made up of? Assertion, party invective, charges, some-
times entirely false, and always grossly exaggerated.
Thus, such writers as I speak of will tell you that the Catholic
Clergy are a vast corporation of swindlers. But how will any man
of even moderate judgment reconcile this with the /aci that no other
clergymen are so ready to encounter danger in the discharge of
their ministry, whether in the cholera-hospitals, the fever-sheds, or
wherever it becomes a martyr of charity to meet death ? They will
tell you that the Catholic religion is the deadly enemy of liberty.
But then how comes it that all the elements and principles of social
right and civil liberty are of Catholic origin, and that the best law-
yer among us .would be somewhat puzzled if requested to point out-
a single addition made to them by Protestantism ? This is fact, in
opposition to theory. When Protestantism came it found several
Republics, and did not find one absolute monarchy in Christendom,
except Russia, which was not in communion with the Pope. They
will tell you that the Catholic Religion is an enemy to knowledge.
But the fact is, that if you remove from the map of Christendom all
the great institutions of knowledge, in every department, founded and
endowed by Catholics alone, very little will be left remaining. They
will tell you that the Church is the enemy of happiness. But the
fact is that nations appear to have been much more happy, if ap-
parent contentment be any symptom, before the Reformation, than
since. Religious and civil, not to speak of. general, wars have fol-
lowed each other in almost constant succession in most of the coun-
tries of Europe since that event ; and if these be signs of happiness,
I am much mistaken. They will tell you that poverty is a certain
companion and consequence of the Catholic religion. This, e\eu if
it were truCj amounts to little ; for the Divine Author of Christianity
"kikwan" unmasked. C63
did not intend hiij religion for the special advantage of bankers and
stock-jobbers, as these writtjrg" would lead us to suppose. And if
the " Gospel was preached to the poor," it follows that poverty
would be, if any thing, a sign in favor of the true religion, rather
than the contrary. Italy and Spain may be called poor nations, but
yet I am not aware that any one is allowed in those Catholic coun-
tries to die by the roadsides of starvation. Protestant England, on
the other hand, is a country oi great wealth and great pauperism. But
in England and Ireland, such writers point to the contrast between
the Catholics and Protestants. They seem to forget, however, that
by one thousand and one diiferent ways, sometimes directly, at all
times indirectly, the Protestants of those countries have been, le-
gally till within less than twenty years, helping themselves in the way
of worldly prosperity, at the expense of the Catholics. Now this is
the fact, and no man of common information and candor will deny it.
I might go on indefinitely in pointing out the mutual contradic-
tion between the facts of history and the theories of your anti-
Catholic writers, of a certain class. But as regards Ireland in
particular, not only were the laws made so as of a certainty to re
duce the Catholics to poverty, but if ignorance is an impediment to
the attainment of wealth, the legislature determined that the Catho-
lics sliould be poor for ever; and with the stigma of so barbarous an
enactment on the escutcheon of Protestant ISritain, it requires singu-
lar power of face in such writers as the Ilev. Dr. Murray, of
Elizabethtown, to allude to the subject at all. Let me contrast the
facts of history, in the very terms of the several statutes, with the
theory of our modern instructor.
" If a Catholic kept school, or taught any person, Protestant or
Catholic, any species of literature, or science, such teacher was, for
the crime of teaching, punishable by law by banishment — and, if he
returned from banishment, he was subject to be lianged as a felon.
" If a Catholic, Avhether child or adult, attended, in Ireland, a
school kept by a Catholic, or was privately instructed by a Catholic,
such Catholic, although a child in its early infancy, incurred a for-
feiture of all its property, present or future.
"If a Catholic child, however young, was sent to any foi-eign
country for education, such infant child incurred a similar penalty —
that is, a forfeiture of all right to property, present or prospective.
" If any person in Ireland made any remittance of money or goods,
for the maintenance of any Irish child educated in a foreign country,
such person incurred a similar forfeiture."
Such were the laws. "Kirwan's" forefathers, in their day, andl
himself in his early life, were their victims. Now, with these facts
staring him in the face, this man says, " If the ignorance of Ireland
has any thing to do with the degradation of Ireland, / charge that
ignorance on Popery.'''' — page 50. The italics are his own, and to
judge by the statement one would be led to suppose that he tas
not escaped from under the edict against knowledge to this day.
No, no; let candid Protestants look for and. examine the true
664 AECHBISHOP HUGHES.
facts in all these cases; let them judge for themselves, and they 'will
be surprised to discover how much that is true has been held back
from them on all such subjects, and how much that is false, or
falsely represented, has been circulated among them instead of the
truth, by mere book-writers and men of the shop. And as regards
the Catholic religion, if they wish to know what it is, even for the
sake of information, let them consult authentic sources, and be slow
to receive their knowledge of it from those who are seldom either
qualified or disposed to state it truly. In my other series of letters
1 propose to state it as it is understood by Catholics ; to expMn its
doctrines, where explanation is judged necessary ; and to sustain
them by such proofs from Scripture, history, and reason, as are most
likely to have weight with men, whether Catholics or Protestants,
who are not yet prepared to reduce the awful mysteties of Christian
revelation to the infidel's standard of judgment — " common sense."
^ John Hughes, Bishop of New York.
August, 1848.
appe:n^dix.
THE O'CONNELL ADDRESS.
[Ab reference is made to the following letter in a portion of this volume, the
Editor deems it but right to give it in full :]
To THE BniTOK OF THE COURIER AND EnQUIREK :
Dear Sir — ^Finding myself indirectly alluded to in your remarks of yesterday
morning, I beg leave to trouble you with the following observations, which I re-
quest you will do me the favor to insert for the information of all whom the ques-
tion may concern.
You say, " ' An Adopted Citizen ' will find below an Address sent to this country
by 'Daniel O'ConneU, Father Mathew, and sixty thousand others, and if he questions
its authenticity, we refer him to the Catholic Bishop and priests of New York and
Boston."
As one of the parties here "referred to," I take the liberty of assuring you that
I have no means of judging of the authenticity of the Address except such as has
been afforded to all the readers of your excellent journal by its publication. My
first and decided impression, is, that, as it appears, it is not authentic. In this
opinion I shall persevere until its authentic history shall have been made known.
How it has been procured — under what circumstances — how much of the truth
may be published in connection with the Address — how much of the explanation
may be suppressed, are questions the answers to which must be furnished before
I can make up my mind to believe in its authenticity.
Should it prove to be authentic, then I have no hesitation in declaring ray opinion,
that it is the duty of every naturalized Irishman to resist and repudiate the Ad-
dress with indignation. Not precisely because of the doctrines it contains, but
because of their having emanated from a foreign source, and of their tendency to
operate on questions of domestic and national policy. I am no friend to Slavery,
but I am still less friendly to any attempt of foreign origin to abolish it.
The duties of naturalized Irishmen or others, I consider to be in no wise dis-
tinct or different from those of native-born Americans. And if it be proved an
attempt has been made by this Address or any other address to single them out on
any question appertaining to the foreigu or domestic policy of the United States,
in any other capacity than that of the whole population, then it will be their duty
to their country and their conscience, to rebuke such an attempt come from what
foreign source it may, in the most decided manner and language that common
courtesy will permit.
The reference made to me, among others, in your remarks, appeared to me to
require this explanation, without which your readers might suppose that I had
means to determine the authenticity of the Address.
1 am, sir, with great respect.
Your obedient servant,
March 11, 1842. * JOHN HUGHES, Bishop, <fec.
666 APPENDIX.
A CARD TO THE PUBLIC.
[The following card appeared in the daily papers of NoYember Isfc, 1841, just
before the famous election when the Catholics made out a ticket of their own :]
11^" BISHOP HUGHES, unable to reply to the many misrepresentations of
the public press in anj' other way than by a card, respectfully begs loaye to assure
the community that he is neither a Whig nor a Loco Foco, nor a politician of any
description. He does not permit himself or any of the clergy to meddle in the
business of politics. He does not ask for sectarian schools, nor did he ever — he
does not ask that any of the public money should be given to hia denomination,
nor did he ever.
Any system of education which shall not interfere with the religious rights of
any denomination, will satisfy him. The present system is not of this description ;
it insists on giving what is termed the " legal quantity of religious instruction. It
has many opponents in this city on strong constitutional grounds.
Let the people examine it and judge for themselves. The Public School Society
or their friends first made the school question a political test. They attempted,
and almost succeeded in uniting the two political parties in favor of the Society,
right or wrong ; so that its opponents, if they voted at all, would be compelled to
vote for the Society, and against themselves. This was too much.
From this alternative they had no escape except to throw away their votes on
a ticket of their own. This alternative, forced on them by the Public School
Society, or its friends, gave occasion to the meeting at Carroll Hall. It was not
a political meeting.
It was not a meeting of Catholics, as such, as may be seen by the terms of the
call that convened it. Bishop Hughes did not " preside" at the meeting.
The persons composing that meeting unanimously determined to support no
man who was pledged to the Public School Society. Bishop Hughes approved de-
cidedly, and continues to approve, of this determination. These are the facts of
the case. But between this and meddling in politics he draws a wide distinction.
THREAT TO ASSASSINATE BISHOP HUGHES.
Is the letter to Mayor Harper, Bishop Hughes refers to a letter received by him
from a person in Philadelphia, threatening to assassinate him. The following
correspondence took place in consequence of that letter :
Mayor's Office, New York, May 22, 1844.
To THE Rt. Rev. Bispop Hughes :
Rev. and Dear Sir — My attention has been directed to a letter, bearing your
name, and addressed to me, in the columns of the Cmirier and Enquirer. If there
had been any thing in it requiring an answer from me, you would doubtless have
thought it proper to send me a copy before publication ; and as you did not, I am
right, probably, in supposing that your exclusive object was to address the public.
I perceive, however, in the first paragraph, that you have been threatened with
personal injury, by one whose name is not withheld from you. This is a matter
properly falling within my cognizance ; and I have to request, therefore, that you
will favor me with such information and evidence as may be in your power, avail-
able for my official action in the premises.
I have the honor to be, r
Very respectfully, your ob't serv't,
JAMES HARPER.
\_Rtply of Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes.']
2G3 MuLBEnRY St., New York, May 24, 1844.
Respected and Dear Sir — I have just received your letter of yesterday. You
are right n your conjecture as to my motive in publishing my letter without hav-
APPENDIX. 667
ing first farnishea you with a copj-. I addressed it to you as tlio cliiof magistrate
of tho city, both because it contained matter which might have reference to your
official character, and also to win for it, by that address, that respect to which it
might not bo entitled by my signature.
I am grateful for the kind manner in which you refer to it in your letter now be '
fore me. The good opinion of one whom I reckon among tlie best of men— Mr.
Thurlow Weed— had long since secured for you the humble feeling of my sincere
respect.
If you will have the kindness to advise me by bearer of the time and place when
it would be most convenient for you to give me an interview, I shall do myself the
honor of waiting on you with the letter referred to, and also such other evidence aa
you may be pleased to require, and as it may be in my power to communicate.
I have the honor to remain,
"With sincere respect, your ob't serv't,
>J« JOHN HLTGIIE3, Bishop, N. Y.
New York, May 25, 1844.
Et. Rev. Bishop Hughes :
Rev. and Dear Sir — I have your favor of yesterday, and will be happy to see
you at my office on Monday, at 12 o'clock — or at any other time you may name as
more convenient to yourself — in relation to the matters referred to in your com-
munication.
With respect, your obedient servant,
JAMES HARPER.
Mayor's Office, New York, May 28, 1844.
Hon. J. M. Scott, Mayor of Philadelphia :
Dear Sir— Some days ago, a letter, addressed to me as Mayor of New York, was
published by Bishop Huglies, of the Roman Catholic Cliiu-oh, in which I was in-
formed that he had received a communication threatening him with death. Sup-
posing that the threat had been made by some person in tliis city, I thought it my
duty to call on Bishop Hughes for the name ; and in answer to that call, the
Bishop has placed in my hands the paper enclosed, which appears to have been
written by one of your citizens, the brother of a man who was slain in the recent
deplorable occurrences at Kensington. Of course, the subject is not within my
jurisdiction, and I therefore send the paper to yon, not doubting that you will take
such action upon it as may be necessary and practicable.
It is not for me to suggest what that action should be, but I may take leave to
remark, that the writer of the threatening letter is apparently a man of some intel-
ligence ; that he wrote under the influence of highly exasperated feelings, which
time and reflection may have subdued, if not entirely done away ; and that, if he
really entertained and still entertains the murderous purpose of which he speaks,
his mind may perhaps be brought into a better frame by earnest and friendly
expostulation.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
JAMES HARPER.
The following is a copy of the threatening letter referred to in the above:
Philadelpmja, May 8, 1844
Bishop Hughes :
' Sir — The bleeding body of iny lifeless brother George now lies before me, assas-
sinated by the minions of that religion to gain an a cendaucy for which you com-
menced a movement in New York. I have sworn tliat his life shall be revenged,
and I will compass sea and land to aosomplish it ; and if I cannot glut my revenge
668 APPENDIX.
oa the rnina of the temples of your accursed religion in this city, I will reserve a
well sharpened poi^nard for your breast. You, as Judge Doran has sai }, deserve
the censure of all Catholics for your course ; and if the Catholic temples, and the
* connected with them, called Female Asylums, cannot be reached, the
foreigner who dared to attempt to turn our institutions to tlie aim and ends of that
religion that has cursed Italy, Spain, Austria, South America, and Mexico, shall be
made to bite tlie dust. I will avenge the abuse that you have made of your own
countrymen, and will liave satisfaction for the blood of a Native American, my own
brother.
CHARLES A. SHIFFLEB.
Wednesday! morning. — Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the influence of
your hell-born religion met by tlie indignation of an outraged community, and the
victims burned in the houses from which tliey were advised to shoot down the
Native Americans. But I have a higher aim ; the hellish priests who dare to
compare Catholic with Protestant countries, and the temples of their infernal or-
gies— they must come down. The Catholic religion is a stain on the history of
man. It must be blotted out, and their temples scattered in the dirt. Let your
minions dare to tell us that the Catholic religion has not been a curse wherever it
has been established ; let your emissaries dare to insult this community by re-
peating your sentiments on this subject. Thank God, I have seen St. Michael's in
ashes ; 1 hope to see others. The blood of American citizens calls loudly for
Catholic blood, or the destruction of the instruments of their power.
C. A. S.
St. Augustine's is surrounded, and it will probably fall. The reaction of the
people against your infernal religion is general ; it will receive its death blow, I
hope, in this country, and never be its curse, as it has been everywhere else a
curse to every country.
' /
Mayor's Office, Philadelphia, May 31, 1844.
Hon. James Harpek, Mayor of New York :
.Dear Sir — Tour favor of the 28th is received. My jurisdiction as Mayor of
Philadelphia extends only over the city proper — a small portionof that great mass
of buildings known as Philadelphia.
The Shiffler who was shot, did not live in the city, but in an adjoining district ;
and presuming that if the writer of the letter you enclosed in your favor of the
28th was really a Shiffler, he also would be found out of the city proper, I applied
to the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions, whose jurisdic-
tion ejttends over the whole country, submitted your communication to them, and
employed the very intelligent officer whom they sent to me in an investigation.
He assures me that the person who has died has left only two brothers — one
seven, and the other fourteen years of age, and neither bearing the name of Charles
— the latter at work as a tobacconist, and too young to have been the author or
the writer of that letter, which is obviously the production of a cultivated man.
We .are driven therefore to the conclusion that the name is an assumed one, and
that no such person exists as Charles A. Shiffler, brother to the one who was shot.
Should any further light be obtained, I will make immediate communication to
you.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
J. M. SCOTT, Mayor.
*It is mi' deemed necessary to give the filthy expression used by the writer. Ed.
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